Royal Complications
by Air-and-water123
Summary: An AU set in the same Avatar World. Aang, the beloved King of his kingdom, in order to fully ascend the throne, must first find a queen to rule with him. A competition is held to see who will rule at his side, but what will happen when he meets a peasant on the streets who he wants to join the competition? Kataang.
1. A New Reign

Chapter 1: A New Reign

**Hey guys! I'm back with another story! This one is going to be a little different than the ones I've done so far. In this story, it takes place essentially in the Avatar World, but it's definitely an AU. Basically, instead of there originally being four nations that led to Republic City, the four nations were founded by the first Avatar, Wan, who instead of being reincarnated, simply passed the Avatar Spirit down to his heir upon his death, which would be the next Avatar in what would be the Cycle. And when Wan set up the four nations, he set up Republic City as the supreme ruler and peacekeeper of the four nations. They were all allowed to do whatever they wanted, but he had power over them all and they all revered him like they did to each Avatar in the show. So in this story, the mantle of power has been passed to Aang, and that's where this story begins. Oh, and also, since he wasn't **_**technically**_** raised by the Air Nomads in this story, he has hair, but he still wears Air Nomad Robes. Anyway, thank you guys for reading this long introduction and I hope you enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. **

* * *

A long sigh escaped Aang's lips as he listened to his generals' tell him news about each of the nations. They had been at it for an hour already, and he was sure if they kept it going for much longer, he would fall asleep.

Not that he meant any disrespect. After all, he loved all of his people equally, but these meetings were just so boring. He would much rather be hanging out with his friends than be listening about how well the world was doing. He mentally chided himself. It didn't matter how bored he was. He should be ecstatic that all was well with the world.

As the Avatar's heir, he had been groomed for the position his entire life, and knew what came with it. He was still rather sad about his father, Avatar Roku's passing, but he knew that he was back with his love and Aang's mother, Ta Min. And that would just have to be enough.

Finally, after what felt like forever, the last of his Generals concluded their report on the Water Tribes. "And so, all is well within the Northern and Southern Tribes. In fact, we have a fair amount of people coming from the Southern Tribe today."

"Really?" Aang asked curiously. "I thought we already had a good amount of people from there in our city."

"Your city, your highness," the man humbly corrected him, reminding Aang of the enormous responsibility he had on his shoulders. "And yes, sir. Many people from both of the tribes have been here for quite some time, but due to the over-hunting of their local wildlife, more are coming to start over while those who stay will enjoy more balanced resources because of the many that have chosen to leave their home."

Aang pondered this for a moment. He hated hearing about any animals getting hurt, but he understood that there were certain things each of the nations had to do to survive. Not to mention different cultural differences and such. He understood well that this was what made Republic City so great, as when they all came together, they made something that only the Spirits could dream of doing.

The Spirits had once been unified, but that had all changed around the time the Avatar lineage had begun. Now, the Spirits more or less kept to themselves in the Spirit World, but for the most part, Aang had yet to meet one who he thought unkindly of.

Shaking these thoughts from his head, he returned his attention to his general. "Very well. Make sure to receive them with open arms, so that they know they are more than welcome here. All who choose to live here, no matter where they've come from, will be treated with fairness and equality."

"Yes, Sire," the man bowed.

Aang turned to the rest of his generals. "Thank you all for your reports. I am pleased to hear that the world is doing well." He looked them all in the eyes, feeling his leadership instincts come out. "It's because of you four that we have managed to keep everyone at peace. You four prove that even with our differences, we can only be stronger if we work together. Thank you all for your service," he told them with a genuine smile, happy to have such loyal people in his life to help him shoulder his responsibilities.

"Thank you, Sire," they all spoke in unison with a respectful bow.

He smiled and nodded to them. "You may all go back to your rooms. And enjoy your week off! You all earned it!" They smiled and nodded respectfully before they took their leave and left the room, leaving him once again alone. He had been alone a lot, recently.

Once he was sure he was alone, he decided to go to the back of his throne and got into a meditative stance. It helped him to think sometimes, and his throne room was hardly ever used, making it the perfect place to hide from his advisors and assistants. Had it not been for how these positions provided jobs for his people, he would insist on doing everything himself. After all, he loved his people and wanted them to do what they pleased. But he knew his assistants and advisors earned good money from working for him, and he wouldn't deny them that just because he felt silly having a bunch of aides to call on.

He sighed and allowed himself to stop thinking, feeling himself slip further and further into a trance before he felt a hand on his shoulder. Peeking one eye open irritably, he glanced over to see none other than his top advisor, Gyatso. Gyatso had always been like a second father to him, though Roku had been a great father to him as well.

"What now, Gyatso?" he sighed in annoyance as he attempted to go back to meditating.

Gyatso shook him again and Aang finally gave in. "Come now, Aang. You will have plenty of time for meditation later. You know as well as I do that I wouldn't be interrupting your meditation time if it wasn't important." Aang didn't want to admit it, but he knew he was right. Gyatso only spoke to him about his royal duties when it was over something important, so he knew that this needed to be talked about. Nodding, he airbent himself up and followed Gyatso out of his throne room, wondering just what Gyatso wanted to talk to him about.

After a few minutes of walking, Gyatso opened the door to his private study and motioned for Aang to step in, which he did. Shutting it behind him, Aang lit a few candles with his firebending and opened up a window to get some more light in. Once everything had been settled so that there was enough light for them to see, Gyatso sat down at a table, with Aang sitting across from him.

"So…" Aang began awkwardly, wondering just what was so important that Gyatso had to interrupt one of the few times he had the chance to meditate. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Well, as you know, you are not a full-fledged Avatar yet," Gyatso began while pulling out some papers from underneath the table. Aang took a closer look at the papers and his eyes widened in recognition. It was the Avatar Accords. "And although you have mastered all of the elements and have just recently mastered the Avatar State, there is still much we need to do before your coronation."

"Like what?" Aang asked curiously as he peered through the old papers, blowing some of the dust off of the one on the bottom.

Gyatso took the papers from him and shuffled them around until he found what he was looking for, a worn out section that was barely visible to the untrained eye, but Gyatso had read these bylines for as long as he had been working at the palace.

"You have completed most of the requirements that are needed for you to officially ascend the throne, but there are a few that you haven't."

"Which ones haven't I done?" Aang asked in confusion, thinking that he had completed them all.

Gyatso couldn't help but let out a small chuckle, knowing what his young pupil's reaction would be when he heard one in particular. "The first one is that you must announce yourself to the kingdom, but that will come after the other two."

"And what are the other two?" Aang asked warily, getting more and more scared by the amusement written all over Gyatso's face.

"The second one is that you must choose a second in command to carry out your orders throughout the city, someone who would take over for you if you had died before creating an heir to the throne."

Aang thought about it for a moment. Although he loved his friends, he knew that they wouldn't be up to the task. Although he supposed Zuko would be a fine leader, he knew him enough to know that he would struggle with ruling over _one_ nation, let alone four and a large city in the center of the world.

And as for Sokka… well, though he was smart and had the qualities of leadership, the thought of him possibly having the ability to rule the world… It just didn't sit well with him. He could already see him declaring a "Worldwide Meat Day". The thought made him shiver.

So who would he choose? Toph was too headstrong, and if he was being frank, too much like a drill sergeant for his liking. She had been a great Earthbending teacher to him, but he knew that allowing her to rule would essentially be a dictatorship.

Then it came to him. Of course. Why hadn't he thought of it before? Who had been his best friend since he was little? Who had grown up with him and showed him to think outside the box? Who had always had his back and, although being a little… _eccentric_, would make a great leader?

"Bumi," he finally decided aloud, becoming more and more sure of his decision the more he thought of it. Bumi had always been his closest friend and knew of all of the nations, having spent much time in each. He would do well if Aang ever died too early.

Gyatso smiled and nodded. "Excellent choice, young one. He will serve well as your second in command."

"But he'll still have to answer to you," Aang smiled. "Even if he'll be my official second, you'll always be my actual second."

Chuckling a little, Gyatso nodded. "If you say so, my pupil. Now, for the last matter." He put the papers down and looked Aang in the eye. "For you to officially become the ruler of our nations, you must find a queen to rule at your side."

* * *

"Katara!"

Katara snapped out of her thoughts as she leaned against the wall. They had been waiting hours for their grandmother to arrive. Although Katara, Sokka, Hakoda, and Kya had moved to Republic City, her gran-gran had decided to stay at her home, feeling it was where she belonged. She had later changed her mind, however, when resources had grown scarce. Knowing that she wasn't of much help to anyone in the tribe anyway and was just taking precious resources, she had decided to leave her home and move to Republic City to live with her family.

_Is she here?_ Katara wondered as she started searching for her brother through the crowd that had gathered at the docks. She dearly hoped so. It had felt like forever since she last saw her. After all, it was a four month journey from Republic City to the South Pole by boat. They had tried to enlist the help of a friendly Air Nomad in their neighborhood, but her gran-gran had declined, saying she didn't want to disturb anyone for her sake. Katara laughed a little. It was apparent where her family got their stubborness from.

"Katara!" Sokka waved at her from the end of the port. Katara finally saw him and hastily made her way towards him, hoping to finally see her gran-gran. She was disappointed, however, when she saw that it was just Sokka who was there.

Letting out a sigh of frustration, she glared at him in annoyance with her arms crossed. "What do you want, Sokka?" she questioned him icily.

He didn't seem to notice the coldness in her tone and continued on as if nothing happened. "Do you have some money I could borrow? There's this vendor here," he gestured to a stand that appeared to be selling shish kabobs. "It's different kinds of meat on a stick! I can't believe I never thought about that!"

"Fine," she rolled her eyes and handed him some money, knowing he would just be pouty if he didn't get the food he wanted. "So," she continued as she looked around. "No gran-gran yet?"

There was silence as she continued looking around before she realized that he had left to get some food. Letting out an annoyed huff, she looked around and frowned as she saw a familiar face. Although originally thinking he was cute, after getting to know Jet more, she saw exactly what kind of guy he was and had decided to ignore him altogether. He wasn't a horrible person, but she just didn't have any interest in him.

"Hey Katara," he flashed a smile at her as he walked up and leaned against a railing. "What brings you here?"

She rolled her eyes and looked away. "I'm waiting for my gran-gran to get here, so if you don't mind, I'm going to go anywhere but here." She attempted to walk away, but he caught her arm, holding her in place.

"Oh come on, Katara. Don't be like that. Let me just take you out on a date. I promise, you won't regret it," he said in a sing-song tone.

"Sorry, not interested," she replied tonelessly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere else to be." Without another word, she walked away into the crowd, praying that he would just leave her alone. The spirits seemed to hear her, as he didn't follow her as she made her way to the dock. Letting out a sigh of relief, she looked sharply as she noticed a ship coming up to the dock. "Sokka! She's here!" she yelled over the excited noises of the people around her.

Sokka, however, was too busy flirting with a girl in their neighborhood, Suki. They had been flirting with each other for a while, but he had yet to ask her on a date. Not that she really cared at the moment, as it was preventing him from greeting his grandmother that he hadn't seen in quite some time. Walking over quickly, she grabbed him by the ear lobe and gave Suki an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, Suki! He'll talk to you later!" she yelled over the cheers.

"No problem, Kat! I'll see you later!" Suki yelled back before walking away, knowing that this was her and Sokka's time to be with their grandmother.

"Hey!" Sokka complained, clearly unhappy from being dragged out of what he had hoped would be the time he would ask her out. "I was kind of in the middle of something!"

Katara rolled her eyes at her brother. "You can talk to her later, Sokka. Right now gran-gran's here." As she spoke, the gang plank of the ship lowered, allowing the passengers to come down.

"Old women first!" their gran-gran chuckled as she walked down the plank.

"Gran-gran!" Katara smiled widely and ran up to hug her, with Sokka not far behind.

"Why hello, my dears," she smiled as she motioned for them to get out of the way of the other passengers who still needed to get out. "It's good to see you again."

Sokka grinned. "It's good to see you too, gran-gran. How was your trip?"

Kanna laughed and started walking, making them attempt to catch up to her. "Oh, you know. About as good as being stuck on a boat for four months can be." She looked at Katara as she continued to walk. "So, this is the great Republic City, huh?"

Katara nodded with a smile. "It's not better than home, but it's still a great place to live. There are so many things here from each of the nations. I'm sure you'll love it," she assured her.

"Well, I would hope so. I did come all this way," Kanna replied jokingly, making Katara and Sokka laugh a little as they made their way back home.

* * *

Aang just sat there in silence for a moment, left in utter surprise. His mind couldn't quite process what he had just been told. Though he supposed a part of him knew it would happen, he didn't think it would have to happen _this _way. He was hoping that he would just find the girl of his dreams one day and made her his queen, but that wasn't going to happen.

"So… I have to… What do I have to do, exactly?" He finally spoke the first words in several minutes, still trying desperately to wrap his mind around this idea.

Gyatso chuckled a little and reached to clasp him on the shoulder. "If you mean how this is going to happen, allow me to explain it to you, young one." Gyatso took the paper and showed it to him, which Aang could just barely read. "According to this, there will be an announcement that you are in need of a queen. The best of each of the nations will be sent to you, and you will get to know them. You will weed out the ones you do not like and by the end of it, you will have your queen."

"But what if I don't _like_, let alone _love _any of the girls?" Aang objected, not being very pleased with the situation he found himself in.

Gyatso patted him on the back. "I'm sorry, Aang, but this is how it has always been. This is how we ensure that the ruler has everything he needs to be successful." Aang let out a long sigh as his head slumped forward. "Everything will be alright, Aang. You'll see."

Aang got up, feeling like he needed some time alone to think about all this. "I'm going to go for a walk. I'll be back in a little bit." Gyatso tried to object, but Aang had already left the room. Shaking his head, he started walking out of his palace and decided that he wanted to go through the city. One of the things he loved most about the city was that it was so diverse. So beautiful. You could truly see how all the nations blended together in the beautiful tapestry that was Republic City.

As he walked, he smiled, seeing a group of kids playing not too far away. But then his smile dropped, for he had been recognized.

"Avatar Aang! How are you?"

"Avatar Aang! What are your plans for your new reign and how will you work to improve the world?" a person who appeared to be a reporter came up and asked him. A dozen other people came up as well, all wanting to talk to him. And though he was annoyed by this, he was respectful and polite and answered all of their questions truthfully before making his way out of the crowd.

It was a relief to be out of there. Not that he didn't love his people, but… he knew that the rest of his life would be filled with moments like that. If anything good happened, he would be praised. If anything bad happened, he would be scorned. No matter what he did, people would always be wanting to talk to him. He would never again have a normal life.

Sighing a little, he continued his previous thoughts. He was supposed to be forced into a marriage with a person he barely knew? What was his ancestor thinking? That wasn't how real love worked. Although he wasn't very happy about the arrangement, he decided to put his selfish thoughts aside. He didn't rule for himself, but for his people so that they would have better lives. And if that meant he had to marry someone he didn't truly love, then he would deal with it if it meant that he could continue his work on helping the world.

Just as he finished with these thoughts, he tripped over an unseen rock and was sent crashing forward into a person who let out a shriek of surprise. Once Aang had regained his bearings, he looked down apologetically at the person he had accidentally knocked over.

"I'm so sorry, I-" his breath caught in his throat as he looked down at the beautiful woman before him. She appeared to be from the water tribes, if her tanned skin was any indication. Her face was framed by chocolate-colored hair, and the best part: her cerulean blue eyes. He felt like he could drown in her depths as he stared at her, just barely managing to hold back some drool from escaping his mouth.

Once the girl had regained her bearings, her heart sped up as well as she looked at him. Katara was never one to let a guy leave her speechless, but… she just couldn't help herself. He was gorgeous. His short, jet-black hair complimented his light features. But what really entranced her was his eyes. She had seen many gray eyes from air nomads in her neighborhood, but his were different. They were pure silver, shining so brightly her eyes squinted a little, but she felt that she couldn't look away for anything.

They both remained there in silence, frozen in each other's gaze before Sokka finally decided he had seen enough. "Get off of her!" he commanded, moving to yank Aang off of her.

Katara was somewhat disappointed at this, but she shook it off before standing up. When Sokka finally saw him, he gasped and bowed to him. "Your highness, I'm so sorry. I didn't know it was you."

"Sokka, you know you don't have to keep calling me 'your highness.' We're friends," Aang laughed a little.

"You're still the Avatar," Sokka pointed out. "You could have me hanged just for touching you."

Aang actually laughed. A loud, joyful laugh that made Katara smile. She hadn't heard such a laugh before in her life. She liked it.

"Just because I can doesn't mean I will," Aang assured him with a pat on the back before he turned back to Katara. "Well, I should apologize. I tripped over a rock and stumbled into you. I'm sorry," he apologized sincerely.

Katara smiled and shook her head. "It's okay, your highness. It was an accident." He returned her smile and they stared into each others' eyes for a few moments while Sokka and Kanna watched them curiously. Sokka was contemplating whether to do anything and Kanna was smiling knowingly, having gone through essentially the same thing.

Finally, Sokka had had enough of their staring and decided to step in. "Okay! Well, it was nice seeing you Aang, but we should get going. We've got to get back home. Right, Katara?" he looked pointedly at her.

She was still staring at Aang before she finally snapped out of her daze. "Uh, yeah. We probably should," she agreed, albeit a bit reluctantly. Sokka started dragging her away, but Aang couldn't let it end like that. He needed to do something.

"Um, miss?" he called to her.

Turning around instantly, she looked at him curiously. "Yes?" she replied with a soft smile.

"Uh…" he trailed off with a nervous laugh and rubbed the back of his neck. "This is sort of awkward for me to ask, but... " He took a long, slow, deep breath. "I… apparently have to find a queen to rule at my side, and I was wondering if you might be interested in trying out for it?" he asked quickly before shutting his eyes and awaiting the rejection he was sure would be given to him.

Katara was taken by surprise by this. Sokka even more so, and he was about to tell Aang that she couldn't when she spoke up. She had taken this the wrong way, however, making a wrongful assumption. "Why? So you can sleep with me just like you'll be sleeping with everyone else that's 'trying out'?" she shot back with her arms crossed over her chest.

Aang's eyes widened in surprise, unbelieving that she would believe such a thing. "What? No!" He let out an exasperated sigh and rubbed his eyes. "Look Miss, I'm _not_ going to be sleeping with _anyone_."

She raised a brow at him, not believing him. "Oh please, this is all just an excuse so you can be with other girls before you have to settle down into marriage. I'll have no part of it," she refused adamantly as she turned around again.

Quicker than she had thought possible, he was at her side, trying to stop her. When she saw that he wasn't going to give up, she finally stopped with a frustrated sigh, allowing him to speak.

"Miss…"

"Katara," she told him quickly before motioning for him to continue.

"Katara," he repeated, liking the sound of her name. It was as beautiful as she was. "I don't know what I did to make you think that I only want to sleep with you, but that's not the case. I don't even want to do this 'dating' thing, but I don't have any choice. If I want to ascend the throne, I have to have a queen at my side." He took a deep breath before he trusted himself to speak again. "Look, I'll understand if you really don't want to, but… if you could just come to the palace tomorrow and allow me to have a chance, I'd like to get to know you more."

Meanwhile, Sokka's jaw had dropped during this whole conversation. Kanna was surprised, too, but only at the fact that her granddaughter had made a bad assumption. She knew Katara was independent, but this was not a wise thing to accuse him of.

After a few moments of searching through his captivating eyes, she saw only the deepest sincerity in them, making her realize that he was absolutely serious. He truly did just want to get to know her. This came as a surprise, as _regular_ guys had tried that trick on her before, but with saying they needed help instead of looking for a queen.

Feeling bad for wrongly accusing him, she smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have accused you of being one of those guys."

"It's okay," Aang laughed a little. "I understand where that came from. I might have to find a queen, but I'm not going to use it to get girls to sleep with me," he assured her.

After thinking about it for a few moments, she shrugged and decided to answer his question. "I'll think about coming. I can't promise anything, but I'll think about it." After all, even if she did think he was sweet and rather handsome, it was no easy thing to enter in a competition to be the Avatar's Queen. Assuming she had made it through all the drama that would definitely be a part of the competition, then she would be Queen. She would never again have a normal life. Though she supposed her life had never _truly_ been normal. Still, she needed to think about it before she decided if she would go or not.

Aang sighed disappointedly. He had hoped that she would at least say that she was coming, but he supposed he should have known better. "Okay. Well if you do come, just know that I would love to get to know you more. And though I don't know you very well, I think you would be a great queen." Smiling a little, he bowed to her and kissed her hand, making her blush. "I hope to see you tomorrow, Lady Katara. Good evening." He bowed to her again and took his leave, leaving her still in a blushing daze.

Sokka, having seen all of this and still being surprised, looked at his sister who was still frozen in place. "You're not seriously considering this, are you?" he asked in a disgusted tone. He hated the thought of his little sister with anyone, let alone the high and mighty Avatar who also happened to be his best friend.

Katara finally snapped out of her daze and thought about it. As much as she didn't want to admit it, something about Aang made her heart skip a beat, even if she had thought he was up to no good when he had asked her to try out. And it _would_ be nice to be able to make an impact on the world. But she also knew that every other girl there would be royalty. And although her father had once been Chief of their tribe, he no longer was, making her just a Water Tribe peasant. How could she compete with Royals?

"No, no, no!" Sokka refused adamantly when he saw the wheels turning in her head. "You are _not _doing this!"

This proved to be unwise to say, as it finally helped her make up her mind. "You know what? I'm doing it, and you can't force me not to," she shot back with her arms crossed over her chest in a defiant gesture. "I'm going tomorrow and there's nothing you can do to stop me." She walked quickly away, leaving Sokka with his jaw on the floor. Horrible thoughts of his sister kissing his best friend flooded his mind, making him shudder before he followed her.

Kanna, however, just laughed in amusement at her grandchildren. She knew this would happen, and she knew that tomorrow would truly be an interesting day.


	2. A Pleasant Surprise

Chapter 2: A Pleasant Surprise

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. **

* * *

Aang woke up shortly before dawn, a bit earlier than usual. He had always been an early riser, but meeting the girl the day before had made him anxious for the day. She had promised that she would think about it, but thinking about it in no way guaranteed that she would come. He hadn't gotten to know her as well as he would have liked to, but that's why he wanted her to come so badly. Not only was she breathtakingly beautiful, he could tell there was something different about her.

She clearly wasn't your average woman. He had spoken to her for, at most, ten minutes, but he had already seen a good amount of who she was through her words. She was sweet and kind, yet obviously was proud and strong-willed, not afraid to resist against the literal ruler of the world. He could only admire her for that. Any other girl would be giggly and flirting with him, but she had treated him like he was just another person. And he liked that.

Not to mention the fact that she was resistant to being used like a toy. He had been more than a little surprised at her accusation of him trying to sleep with her, but he understood where she was likely coming from. A beautiful woman like her, she probably had guys try to trick her into it all of the time. He couldn't blame her for misconstruing what he was asking her.

And he understood her hesitation to say if she was coming or not. After all, it was no simple thing to try out to be the Avatar's Queen. If not because of the competition, then because a life of royalty was never simple, nor entirely appealing. To those who had only _seen _royalty, they assumed that it was the best thing that could ever happen to a person, but Aang knew better. And apparently Katara did, too. Royals had to shoulder a lot of responsibility that others simply did not. Now, he would _never _say that the common folk had an easier time, as it just wasn't true, but it wasn't the best thing in the world either.

Still though, he dearly hoped that she would come. He had met some of the Royals from the other nations, and those he _had _met, he wasn't too impressed with. At best, the ones he had met were kind but seemed to hold an air of disrespect for anyone who wasn't at their station. The worst case he had seen was the Fire Nation Princess, Azula. Not only was she proud and strong-willed, she was… somewhat evil. Not that she was a horrible person, but she just didn't care for people like Aang did. Anyone she considered beneath her was treated as such, and that certainly did not sit well with him.

For if there was one thing that he couldn't stand, it was those who had no respect for anyone else. Everyone deserved to be treated with fairness and equality, even those who had commited crimes. Now that didn't mean he didn't think they shouldn't receive punishment, as he agreed, actions needed consequences, but he didn't support the idea of treating other people as lower than human. To him, it didn't matter what you've done before. Anyone is capable of changing, a point he made clear to the people who had personal grudges against certain criminals. Some called him soft, but he would accept that as a compliment gladly. After all, he would rather be someone who cares for everyone rather than someone who only talks to his subjects because he has to. He knew that for the world to be at peace, there must be forgiveness and tolerance, something that not everyone seemed to understand. But what mattered was that _he_ understood that, and that principle would be implemented throughout his reign.

And so it was because of this reason alone that he knew Azula would not make a good queen for his rule, and had already decided thus far that she would not be his. Not that he could tell her that yet. Gyatso had already told him that every Royal that would be sent his way would have to be given a chance before he could start weeding out who he did not think would be a good fit.

Sighing a little, he finally decided to get out of his bed and do his morning work out. If he was going to be stuck getting to know a bunch of stuck up Royals, then he at least wanted to have a clear mind. And other than meditation, he found no other better way to clear his mind. Besides that, he simply enjoyed exercising.

Finally standing up, he put on some of his training clothes and left his room, ready to start the day, knowing it would truly be an interesting one.

* * *

Katara was a bit anxious as she ate her breakfast with her family. She had decided that she would go try out to be the Avatar's Queen, and she knew what exactly that entailed. It meant that she would have to deal with snobby Royals that would treat her like the peasant she was. Although she supposed _one_ wouldn't treat her so poorly.

She and her brother had met Princess Yue when they went to the North on a vacation, and were surprised to see just how kind and… _not_ stuck up she was. Sokka had even tried asking her out, and although she was interested, had decided against it. They were just too far apart, and she didn't want to leave her home if she could help it. Though Katara supposed if she was selected to be the Avatar's Queen, she wouldn't have much choice but to move to Republic City.

Yue would be the only one Katara would hang out with, she had decided. After all, everyone else would probably be pretending to be nice to each other only to stab them in the back later. Yue would be the only one there she could trust. Besides Toph of course, but she knew that Toph wouldn't even try. Not only was she blind, but she simply wouldn't want to be trapped in a marriage. If she knew her friend, then she would probably just get through it until it was over.

"Katara?"

She snapped out of her thoughts and looked up to see her father giving her a concerned look. "Yeah?" she asked with a mouthful of fruit, making her blush in embarrassment before she swallowed it and looked at him.

"Is everything alright? You seem… a little out of it," he told her with a wary look on his face. He knew that girls her age weren't always the best listeners, but he could tell that something was on her mind.

Before she could even respond, Sokka decided to rat her out. "Oh, she's just thinking about the competition she's entering to see if she can marry my best friend, the Avatar," he said with obvious disgust in his tone.

Both Hakoda's and Kya's eyes widened in surprise. "What?" They asked simultaneously.

Kanna herself couldn't help but laugh a little. "Oh, come now. You both know that your daughter is capable of this, right?"

Kya nodded slowly. "Of course she can, I just… didn't think that she would want to," she admitted before taking a drink of her water.

"Yeah, me neither," Sokka grumbled while stuffing some meat into his mouth.

"Why _are_ you doing this?" Hakoda wondered, still in a bit of a shock from this piece of information. After all, it wasn't every day that he would hear that his only daughter would try out to be the Queen of the world. He knew that she wasn't the kind to want power nor marry someone she didn't love, so he was genuinely curious.

Katara, still embarrassed by all of the attention she was getting over this, simply shrugged while staring at her food. "Well, I met him yesterday, and… he's really sweet and kind. I've never met a guy like him before. I want to get to know him more and see if it could go anywhere," she admitted.

There was silence in the room for a few moments. Hakoda and Kya were trying to digest that, Sokka was trying not to puke, and Kanna was smiling knowingly, knowing just what Katara was going through.

"Okay... Well, if this is what you want to do, then of course we'll support you, sweetheart," Hakoda finally said, still looking surprised from the news.

"Thanks dad," Katara smiled, happy to know that her parents weren't going to try to talk her out of it. Not that they would have succeeded had they tried, anyway. Something about Aang really made her want to get to know him more, even if that meant she would have to deal with a bunch of crazy, stuck up royals.

"So, when does this… _event_ start?" Kya asked, trying to once again make conversation out of the silence that had filled the room.

Thinking about it, she looked at the sun in the sky and gasped. "It's starting soon!" she exclaimed worriedly. Knowing she didn't have much time, she shoved her food down so quickly, she had inadvertently made Sokka proud before she got up and ran up to her room.

Hakoda and Kya looked at each other in confusion, never having seen their daughter so… _eager_ about something before. It was odd. If there was one thing they had learned about their daughter, it was that she was independent. Sometimes a little more independent then they would like, but they understood that it was just her nature. But this… this was completely unusual for her.

A few minutes later, she came running back down the stairs and ran over to her family, giving all but Sokka hugs. "Sorry guys! I really need to get going. I'll be back soon! Love you!" she told them quickly before dashing out the door.

There was pure silence in the room for a moment before Kanna laughed a little, making everyone else look at her in surprise. "What's so funny, gran-gran?" Sokka asked in surprise.

Kanna's laughter subsided and she shrugged. "Oh… nothing. Let's just call it an old woman's intuition," she smiled before getting up herself and taking all of their dishes from them. For what felt like the thousandth time that day, the family gave each other strange looks but decided to let it drop, knowing that she wouldn't be willing to elaborate. And as much as Sokka didn't want to admit it, he was curious to see if Katara would truly win the competition or not, even if he was still disgusted at the thought of his sister with anyone. Shaking his head from these thoughts, he got up and decided he would take his afternoon nap.

* * *

Aang sighed as he watched the crowd of young women who had been gathered in his palace. So far, the one he had been hoping to come hadn't, and he wasn't too sure if she would or not. It had been obvious that something had happened between them, but she didn't seem too eager to come. Though he could understand why. If she came, she would end up in a competition for the hand of a man she hardly knew, not to mention that things would be awkward with the people she would compete against. Still though, he couldn't help but wish she would come.

There was something about her that Aang couldn't quite get out of his mind. Was she absolutely beautiful? Yes. But Aang was never one to judge someone based on how they looked. No, it wasn't her looks that drew him to her. Something else made him want to get to know her more. What that was, exactly, he wasn't sure, but he was more than a little eager to find out.

Though he knew better than to get his hopes up. Just because he would be the ruler of the world didn't meant that he was going to get anything he wanted. Of course, if he wasn't who he really was, then he could probably ask her family for her hand, but he didn't want to be _that_ guy. If not because that would be going against who he was as a person, then because he wouldn't be able to enjoy a marriage that the woman had been wrongfully forced into. Not only would he feel terribly guilty about it, he couldn't imagine that she would be very happy about it. And if he was to be married, it would be to someone who was actually willing to marry him.

A tap on his shoulder interrupted his thoughts as he looked back to see none other than Gyatso, giving him a patient smile. "Oh, Gyatso. Did you need something?" he asked politely.

Gyatso laughed a little, shaking his head at his pupil. "No, Aang. It's about time for this to begin. Are you ready?"

Aang looked back at the crowd, still saddened to not have seen the girl he was looking for, but he decided that she just wouldn't be coming. After all, why would she? What did he have to offer besides ruling the world? Although he knew that was a major draw to most people, he knew this girl was different than the others.

Which was precisely why he wanted to get to know her more, but he understood her decision and decided that it was for the best for her. He knew there was going to be drama involved in this, and it would probably be best if she didn't get mixed up in it. Especially since she would just be made fun of for being a peasant among royals.

Taking a deep breath, he turned and nodded to Gyatso. "Yeah. Let's just get this over with," he sighed a little. Gyatso's eyes flashed with pity. He didn't want this for Aang, but this was just how it had to be. The rules were in place for a reason; he just wished that the first Avatar had let the future Avatars pick who they wanted to be with.

Knowing there wasn't anything else he could do about it, he sighed a little himself and made his way to the front of the room. "Excuse me! Ladies and gentlemen! May I have your attention, please!" he called out to them politely.

The chattering stopped for a few moments as they all turned their attention to him, bringing the room into an air of dead silence. Though Aang would never admit it, he was amazed so many young women had come there to try to be his. Even if he knew it wasn't really for _him_, but rather for his royalty, but he supposed he didn't have a right to judge. If not for the reason that their families had put them up to this, then because he too was looking for a wife because of his duty to the world.

"Thank you all for coming!" he greeted them with a smile. "I understand that there are many here who want to try for Avatar Aang's hand, but to those of you who are not royalty, I am afraid you must leave. The Avatar can only marry royalty."

These words stung Aang a little, thinking about the girl who was certainly not royalty, but he supposed she wasn't there anyway, so it would make little difference now. There was a large, disappointed sigh from the crowd of commoners, but they decided not to fight it and left, leaving Aang a little relieved. That certainly had weeded out many of his potential choices.

Once all of the common folk had cleared out, Gyatso returned his attention to the royals who had stayed behind. "Very well! I would personally like to thank you all for coming, as this is a matter of utmost importance. As you all know, Avatar Aang is in need of a queen, and you are all here to see if you can be the queen he needs to rule by his side. If there are any who do not wish to compete, say so now, or remain silent.

Aang looked through the crowd and was surprised to see two people he recognized. Toph and Mai. Toph, he was surprised that her parents had gotten her this far, and Mai was dating Zuko. How did her parents think this would happen? He shook his head in disgust. Her parents clearly didn't care about her own happiness, judging by the look on her face.

"I-" Toph began, but her mother's hand slammed over her mouth, preventing her from being able to get out of it. Fortunately for her, Aang decided he would save her from having to go through with this, as they both knew Aang wouldn't pick her.

Stepping forward, he took his place beside Gyatso and addressed them. "I would like to thank you all for coming, but there are a couple here that I know do not wish to be here, and I will not have an unwilling queen at my side." He looked at his friend who was now running up, obviously ready to make an objection to this himself.

"I object!" Zuko panted as he finally reached the crowd. Mai smiled at seeing her boyfriend ready to fight for her.

Aang actually smiled. It was nice to see that Zuko was fighting for what he wanted. Though he wanted to tease his friend about this just a bit. "And why do you object, Zuko, son of Firelord Ozai?"

Zuko noticeably gulped, making Aang snicker a little. Zuko noticed this and his eyes squinted, but he could see that Aang was serious about this. Sighing, he decided to just spit it out before he could stop himself.

"I… love… her…" he ground through his teeth with a bright blush on his cheeks. The crowd erupted in a chorus of "ooh" and "aww"s. Zuko looked down in embarrassment, but Aang decided with a laugh that his friend had suffered enough.

"Very well then. Mai of the Fire Nation is excused from having to participate in the competition," Aang told them before looking over to the Bei Fong family. "And Toph Bei Fong as well, for I can tell that she does not want to do this either."

Toph cheered rather loudly, making her family gasp. Feeling on top of the world, Toph ignored her family's cries of protest and walked up on the steps of the throne to punch him in the shoulder.

"Thanks Twinkletoes! You won't regret it!" she smiled wider than Aang had ever seen. He laughed at how clearly relieved she was, and decided to shrug off the punch. Stepping off the stairs, she didn't hesitate and walked out of the room, leaving her embarrassed family to run after her.

Gyatso himself couldn't hold back the smile that found its way onto his face at what had just happened. Zuko and Mai had been in love for a long time, and Toph… Well, she was Toph. He knew this would never end well for her had she been forced to do it.

Shaking his head with a light laugh, he once again addressed the small crowd gathered around the throne. "Good. Now that that's been settled, let us have some proper introductions." The room was silent before someone finally decided to step up and speak.

"I am Princess Azula, your majesty. But I'm sure you remember me," she smirked with what appeared to be a poor attempt at a seductive look on her face.

Aang remembered his thoughts from earlier that day, but he decided to forget about them for the moment. He couldn't get rid of her just yet. Even if he wanted to. The only way he could excuse people was if he had a legitimate excuse, and unfortunately for him, he did not have one.

"Yes, I remember you, Princess Azula," he replied politely with a forced smile. "It's nice to see you again. Thank you for coming."

"The _pleasure_ is all mine, your majesty," she attempted a flirty wink at him before she stood back beside her father and mother. Ozai looked rather proud of his daughter at the moment, though Aang couldn't imagine why. Just barely holding himself back from rolling his eyes, he watched as the family next to Azula's stepped forward.

"Hi Cutie!" Ty Lee stepped forward and smiled at him. Her parents coughed and she corrected herself. "Your Cutie majesty!" Aang pondered how she would fare as his queen. She was certainly pretty, of that there was no doubt. And from what he could see from her demeanor, she seemed to be peppy and full of life. Someone he could see as a positive person to help him throughout his rule. Perhaps she would be an ideal candidate. He decided to hear what else she had to say. "I'm Ty Lee! I'm from the Fire Nation, and I like to cartwheel around a lot. And if you make me your queen, we'll be the best power couple in the world," she finished with a flirty smile and blew him a kiss, eliciting a small blush on his cheeks.

Azula glared at her, but she simply flashed him a dazzling smile before taking a step back. Not very happy about being upstaged, she crossed her arms and frowned, clearly not happy that her supposed 'friend' seemed to get an advantage.

Before Azula could go deeper into her resentment, the third participant decided to step up. "Hi! I'm Princess Yue!" she smiled. Aang liked her immediately. Her smile was absolutely genuine. From what he could see, she wasn't trying to fake anything. And if there was one thing he wasn't looking for in a woman, it was someone who was faking who they truly were. If he was to marry someone, he wanted to know who they truly were. It wouldn't be ideal for him to get married only to find out later that the person he married wasn't who he thought they were. "I'm from the Northern Tribe, and I think we'll be a great fit together," she said honestly. He couldn't help but admire her a little. She was just putting out what she thought, and into the simplest terms, too. Aang's life was complicated enough as it was, so he wouldn't mind if he married someone who just said what they thought.

Stepping back, Yue's attention turned to the girl to her right as said girl stepped up. She had no family around her, but it was obvious that she was royalty from the clothes that she wore.

"Hi, I'm Jin," she smiled. Aang liked her, too. She seemed to be genuine as well. She didn't sound like she was trying to be royalty, she just sounded like she wanted to be a normal person. Something that Aang understood well.

"Hello, Jin," Aang replied with a smile back. "If I may ask, where is your family?"

Jin's smile dropped as she looked down at the ground. "My family… died when I was young." Aang's smile quickly dropped at this, along with everyone else's in the room except Azula, who had already been frowning. "They were sick," she then explained. "And they left me to rule their share of the Earth Kingdom."

Aang gave her an apologetic smile, knowing her pain. "I'm sorry to hear that, Miss Jin. But I hope you know that you are welcome here, anytime."

"Thank you, Sire," she curtsied to him before taking a step back. Now that they had all introduced themselves, Aang supposed it was official. The girl would not be coming. Letting out a small sigh, he decided to just get it over with.

"I would like to thank you all for coming. It means a great deal to me that the world prospers and-" he was interrupted by a voice coming from down the hall.

"Here! I'm here!" a young woman's voice panted as she got closer. Aang's eyes widened. It couldn't be… Surely there was no way that _she_ would come?

As if the spirits themselves wanted to prove him wrong, Katara came bursting into the room, looking like she had just run a mile, which she likely had. "I'm here! I'm here!" she panted, bending over to catch her breath.

If it was possible, Aang's eyes widened even more. She had actually come? He was almost positive that she wouldn't have. Then it finally sank in. She had come! He smiled rather widely, more so than he had once thought possible. Suddenly this was looking to be a lot more appealing than he had thought it would be.

"Hold on a moment. Who is this peasant?" Azula cried in outrage as she pointed an angry finger at Katara, who of course was still trying badly to catch her breath.

"Yes, I would like to know the same thing," Gyatso muttered to him with a questioning look, having seen the excitement written all over his face.

Just as Aang was about to speak up, Katara had finally regained her breath and decided to introduce herself. "Hello, sir. I am Katara of the Southern Water Tribe. I met the Avatar-"

"Aang," the young man cut in with a happy smile, just feeling relieved that she had shown up. He had been sure that she wouldn't come.

"Aang," she corrected herself with a small smile that she couldn't hide. "Yesterday. And I would like to see if I might be a good fit to be his queen."

Azula huffed angrily and glared daggers at her. "And who are you to compete to be the Avatar's queen? Are you even royalty?" she sneered.

Katara looked down, somewhat ashamed of herself before she remembered who she was. Just because she wasn't royalty anymore didn't mean that they were any better than her, and she would show this girl that, even if it meant she would have to deal with some humiliation.

"No," she finally admitted. "I used to be. My father was the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe, but we moved here to help our people have an easier life."

Gyatso smiled sadly at her. "I'm sorry, Miss, but only someone who's in royalty can-"

"No," Aang interrupted him, having the most serious look Gyatso had ever seen on his face, making him wonder just what had happened between them when they met. "I might have to do this, but I am still going to be the king. I'm making a new rule as of right now."

The room around him gasped in shock, but there was no way he was backing out of this now. She had actually shown up. When he had thought that she wouldn't even think about coming, she had come to try, despite her wrong assumption of him just wanting to sleep with her. The thought made him blush, but he pushed it down and continued.

"I may not be able to repeal anything from the Avatar Accords, but I surely can add something to it," he spoke loudly in the room, making sure everyone could hear. He turned to the scribe to his right. "Make sure to write this down, please." The scribe nodded and got ready to write. "From now on, any future Avatar can pick _one_ person to be a part of the competition."

Gyatso still looked surprised, but he knew that Aang had the right to do this. He couldn't take back any of the Accords, but he certainly could add more if he so pleased.

Azula, to her credit, was doing well not letting her rage get the best of her, but only because she knew she would have no chance at all if she lost it in front of him. So, knowing that staying silent would be her only chance, she decided to keep her mouth shut.

The rest of the girls had mixed emotions about this. Yue, though not entirely happy about having someone else to compete against, was nonetheless happy to see her friend. Jin was rather indifferent, just seeing it as more of a challenge. She had always been one to rise to the occasion, and this would be no different. Ty Lee, however, had decided to welcome this girl with open arms. If there was one thing she enjoyed, it was a bit of drama, and this had certainly raised the stakes.

Gyatso, still a bit surprised from this unexpected event, decided to just go with it, knowing there wasn't really anything he could do even if he wanted to. "Well, okay then," he laughed nervously before getting back to it. "Now that that's been settled, I would like to welcome you all. Tonight, we will get you settled in your rooms. Tomorrow, we will start the competition and hopefully find the right one to rule at the Avatar's side. If you would all follow me?" He started walking out of the room and motioned for them to follow. The girls and their families started walking out, but each of them waved to Aang, usually accompanied with a flirty wink or blowing a kiss to him. All but Katara, that was, as she wasn't about to do what the others were doing. She didn't get the sense that Aang was bought by that kind of thing, and there was no way she was going to sacrifice her dignity by doing such a thing.

As she started following them out, she was surprised when she felt a hand on her shoulder, gently asking her to stay for a moment. Turning around, she was surprised to see none other than the man she would be competing for in front of her.

"Hi," he smiled, allowing her to see that he was a bit nervous, but she could see far more excitement than anything. It made her happy to see how happy he was that she had come. Hell, he had even made a new Accord just to allow her to join in the competition.

"Hi," she smiled back, once again being amazed at how such a powerful figure could be not only handsome, but kind and gentle as well.

He cleared his throat a little hastily, making her laugh at how his nerves were getting to him. "I just wanted to say… thank you."

She raised a brow, clearly confused. "For what?"

"For actually coming," he laughed a bit, making her laugh as well. She had only heard him laugh once before, but she was already getting very addicted to his laugh. It was truly beautiful. Almost like his laugh was the sun itself, washing her over with rays of joy and mirth. "If I'm being honest, I didn't think you would even _think_ about it, let alone actually come."

"Why wouldn't I?" she asked as she looked him up and down with an approving hum in her throat, making him blush from his cheeks to his neck. "I'm sorry if I gave you the idea that I wasn't interested, I just… I know how these things go. And I'm not the kind of girl who fights for a man." He nodded in understanding before she continued. "But… if you're anything like I think you are, then I would say you're worth fighting for."

He was stunned at her admission, and she smiled. Looking around quickly, she leaned up on her toes and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, causing him to blush even more. Smiling, she started walking out of the room. "Good night, my Lord."

"Aang."

She looked over her shoulder in confusion. "I'm sorry?"

"Aang," he repeated himself with a smile. "You can just call me Aang."

Unable to stop herself, a wide smile came across her face, which she tried to hide with a yawn. She failed, however, as he had seen it. "Well, then. Good night, Aang." She gave him one last smile and walked out of the room, leaving him rooted to the spot. Something about her left him speechless, but he knew he couldn't make a decision immediately. He had to give them all a fair chance to prove themselves, but there was just something about her…

Shaking these thoughts from his mind, he decided he would go back to his room and get some sleep. Tomorrow would truly be an interesting day, it seemed.


	3. So It Begins

Chapter 3: So It Begins

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. **

* * *

The next day, Aang awoke with excitement coursing through him. Although originally being hesitant about this, he was more excited now. She had actually come! The girl who had him completely captivated had decided that she wanted a chance to see if she could potentially be his queen. Never in a million years would he have imagined that a girl as beautiful and strong would want to be his, and it made him wonder why she wanted to.

He shook his head at himself. Why was he even questioning it? He should just be happy that she had decided to come at all. Not that the other girls weren't beautiful and seemed nice, but there was just something about her…

Sighing a little, he got up and put on some clothes. Even if things were better than he had expected them to be, he still had to get through this thing. And he knew there was going to be drama that he would have to sort through. He just hoped that it wouldn't be enough to ruin his day.

Walking into the bathroom, he quickly made sure that his hair was decent, even though it never moved from its current position, and once he was satisfied, left the room to go meet up with Gyatso. To kick this thing off, Gyatso had decided that a morning breakfast for a general meet and greet would be a good way to begin. Aang would normally agree, but this was different than just meeting some family from another nation. This was a group of girls who would be competing to be his queen. There would no doubt be an uneasy tension between them, and he was no fan of division.

If there was one thing his father had taught him, it was that boundaries should only be for the division of the nations. People were people, after all. No matter what element they bent, or whether they bent no element at all, they all had the same blood flowing through their veins. They all had the same wishes and desires to live a good life with the ones they loved.

And it was because of this that he was not very happy about the competition happening, but he knew it needed to be done. It was the only way he could ascend the throne, and as much as he knew Bumi would be a good replacement, he knew that the Avatar lineage needed to continue. It would not end with him. He would ensure it.

As he walked up to his most trusted advisor, he was surprised to see him talking to a lady he recognized. She lived in one of the neighborhoods he had walked through when he needed a break from his duties. What was she doing there?

Upon closer inspection, it was almost like they were… _flirting_ with each other. Wasn't Gyatso a monk? Why was he flirting? Wasn't it against what he swore to _not _do?

Not that Aang would ever deny him happiness, but it just didn't really make sense to him. After all, one of the reasons Avatar Roku had picked Gyatso as his top advisor was because he was a monk who didn't allow anyone to affect his decisions. So how come Gyatso was flirting _now_?

Aang decided to let it drop. After all, who was he to judge what decision he made? Well, he _was_ the Avatar, but still. If Gyatso wanted to find someone, then there was no way that Aang would get in his way. Gyatso was like a second father to him, but that didn't mean that Aang wasn't going to take advantage of the situation to tease his long time mentor and friend.

With a mischievous smile on his face, he walked up to Gyatso and tapped on his shoulder, ready to tease him endlessly. He was surprised, however, when Gyatso appeared to be completely calm. This surprised Aang. Though Gyatso was not really the type to do embarrassing things, he had thought that being caught would be enough to at least make him a little embarrassed.

"Ah, good morning, Aang. Did you sleep well?" Gyatso greeted him pleasantly, not showing even one trace of mortification on his face.

"I did, thank you. And who is this?" Aang looked over to the lady to his left with just a hint of a tease in his voice.

The lady didn't seem to notice and bowed deeply to him. "Greetings, Avatar Aang. It is the honor of a lifetime to be in your presence."

Aang appreciated the gesture, but he just waved her off. "It's nice to meet you too, Miss, but you may just call me Aang." He turned his attention back to his friend and for all purposes father figure.

"This is Yangchen, named in honor of your great, great grandmother," he told him, catching Aang by surprise. This wasn't what he had been expecting her to be, but he felt honored all the same that his family was revered by members of the community, even to name their children after someone who was long dead.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Yangchen," he humbly bowed to her before looking back at Gyatso. "So, what were you talking about?"

Gyatso smiled and looked back at her. "Well, Miss Yangchen and her husband," Aang winced when he heard this. As weird as the thought of Gyatso having a girlfriend would be, Aang honestly wanted him to find someone. Gyatso was such a great guy, he knew that he deserved to be happy with someone. "Are old friends of mine. They wished to catch up is all."

"And where is this husband of yours?" Aang asked curiously as he looked around, but it was just them in the hallway, making him suspicious.

"Oh, he had to use the restroom," she laughed. "He had a bit too much tea to drink earlier, and I suppose it came back to him." She turned back to Gyatso. "It has been good to see you again, Gyatso. Remember to keep in touch, alright?"

Gyatso smiled and bowed to her. "Of course. I'll be sure to send a lemur as soon as you leave," he joked, making her laugh before she waved and walked away. Feeling eyes on him, he turned and looked at Aang who was giving him a curious look.

"What?" he asked just as curiously, having seen the question in his pupil's eyes.

Aang continued to look at him silently for a moment before he shrugged. "I don't know, it's just… I kind of thought that you were flirting with her," he admitted reluctantly, his voice dropping to a whisper.

Instead of being surprised, Gyatso simply laughed, taking Aang himself by surprise. Though he supposed he shouldn't be. Air Nomads were well-known for their senses of humor. And this seemed to prove the case further.

"No, Aang. I wasn't flirting with her," he assured him once his laughter had settled down. "I have known her and her husband a long time. She is just a good friend."

Aang nodded in understanding. Of course, Gyatso wouldn't break his vow of abstinence. Not unless he no longer wanted to be a monk. Still though… Aang couldn't help but wish Gyatso would go out and find someone. Even if Aang was being forced to find someone, he couldn't imagine spending the rest of his life alone. Though he supposed Gyatso wasn't truly alone, he still didn't like the idea of not having a partner to spend his life with.

"Why?"

Gyatso looked at him in surprise. "Why what?" he asked in confusion.

"Why did you become a monk?" Aang clarified, still looking hesitant about talking about this at all. "I know you've always said that you're just fine on your own, but… Wouldn't you want to be happy with someone?" he wondered.

Gyatso's smile dropped at this, and he let out a long sigh. "It's a long story," he began, catching Aang by surprise. He hadn't thought that Gyatso would actually tell him anything. "When I was younger, probably around your age, I once fell in love with a woman. She was as beautiful as the stars in the sky." He sighed a little wistfully, a sad look crossing over his face. "But she did not love me. And, knowing that she never would, I decided that I would never allow myself to get my heart broken again."

Aang was silent for a few moments, not really knowing how to respond to this. Of course he knew that he could say "I'm sorry" or something along those lines, but if there was one thing he had learned from his father's death, it was saying it didn't fix anything.

So instead, he decided to pat him on the back, albeit a bit awkwardly. He had never been in a conversation like this before, and he wasn't entirely sure what would be the right thing to say. But even with the awkwardness, he decided to just say what his heart was telling him to.

"I'm sorry that you had to go through that, Gyatso, but there are other women out there. And I want you to be happy," Aang finally said.

Gyatso gave him a weary smile, but Aang could see right through him. There was a plea in his eyes, one asking him not to talk about it anymore.

"I am happy, Aang," he assured him, looking at the sun rising over the horizon. "But no one will ever compare to her. And _that_ is why I have sworn to be a monk."

A moment of awkward silence passed between them, but Gyatso decided that enough time had been spent on him. They had an important breakfast to attend to, one that could very well impact the rest of Aang's life.

"Come now. We are probably running late as it is," he ushered him away. Aang wanted to talk about it more, but he couldn't even imagine the pain that Gyatso was going through. He supposed that it would just be best if he left the topic alone. As long as Gyatso was happy, then Aang would just leave the discussion in the past.

And so with that thought, the two quickly made their way to the dining hall where everyone would be waiting. Not knowing that they weren't the only ones running late.

* * *

Katara was woken by the sound of people walking down the hall. She could hear their voices emanating as they walked by. They weren't trying very hard to be quiet, and it was annoying her. After all, her family wasn't exactly known for being early risers, and from what she could see it was likely around eight o'clock. Her family usually slept in until ten.

Rolling over, she decided to try to get more sleep. If she was going to do a competition, she would need all the sleep she could get. One of the downsides about being in her family, if they didn't get their proper rest, they weren't completely there, so to speak.

For instance, her brother Sokka couldn't be awoken without at least seven hours of sleep. She had tried several times, but with every futile effort, he had just seemed more resistant to her attempts to get him up. Katara, however, was easier to get up and was less grumpy, but she still wasn't keen on getting up early.

And this proved to be the case when more voices came from the hallway, making her groan as she tried to block them out by putting her head under her pillows. At long last, the voices finally made it down the hallway and out of range, making her sigh in relief.

Closing her eyes, she attempted to go back to sleep when a question formed in her mind. Why were some people up so early? And why did the voices seem familiar? Or, rather not all of them, but one in particular did. Then it hit her. It was Yue.

Then, upon remembering that the other voices were all distinctly female, made her wonder what exactly they were all doing up so early. And then she remembered. As she had been escorted to her room, she had been told something. Something important…

Her eyes widened in realization. The commencement breakfast! It was starting soon! Now fully awake, she jumped out of her very comfortable bed and made a mad dash for the bathroom. She was none too pleased with her appearance. Her hair was wild and unkempt, her eyes had heavy baggage underneath them, and her breath smelled horrible.

Fortunately for her, the bathroom came with everything that she needed to fix it. Taking the brush that had been conveniently placed next to the sink, she quickly brushed it out, not stopping until it was silky and smooth. She smiled, satisfied with not looking like she had just gotten out of a fight and moved onto the next problem. Although there wasn't much she could do about the bags under her eyes, she realized something that could help her.

It was an old trick that her father had taught her to wake her up, and she wondered if it might work to make her look less tired. Turning on the sink, she bent some of the cold water out of it and, not being very happy with what was about to happen, forced herself to throw the water on her face.

She gasped loudly, feeling the sting of the cold water hit her face, but as she looked in the mirror, it seemed to do the trick. If she had felt awake before, she felt even more so now. Although the bags weren't completely gone, they had been considerably reduced, and that would just have to be enough, she decided.

With two of her three problems resolved, she looked around for something that could help her breath. She was considering just drinking some water and hoping for the best, but she noticed something at the edge of the sink. It was in the shape of a small square, but it smelled good. Looking closer, she noticed a note on the sink.

_Please enjoy a complimentary mint. _It read. Curious, she threw caution to the wind and popped it into her mouth. She was surprised at the coolness that quickly overtook her mouth, but upon closer inspection, discovered that her breath no longer smelled bad.

With all her problems solved, she took one last look in the mirror and ran out. She was surprised to see a blue dress for her that had been put in the closet, and Katara wasn't sure whether she should wear it or not. On one hand, she wasn't the type to wear fancy dresses, at least not a lot, anyway. On the other hand, she knew that her competition had likely been given dresses too, and if she wanted to stay in the running, that it would be wise to wear it.

With a growl of frustration, she decided to quickly put it on before running out the door, doing her best to not be too late. Running through the hallways, she struggled to find the dining room where they were supposed to meet. Oh why hadn't she prepared for this? Maybe she and Yue could have just gone together. Then maybe she wouldn't be struggling like she was.

At last, after what felt like forever, she finally came upon a large room. The room itself was beautifully decorated, but it appeared that the furniture was a bit outdated. Still beautiful furniture, but she could tell that the room had seen much use. Though she supposed it likely wasn't the leader of the world's first priority to have the newest furniture in his home.

"Well well, look who decided to show up," a voice sneered at her from the side of the table. Fortunately for her, Aang had yet to arrive. "What a surprise," Azula's voice dripped in sarcasm. "The peasant is late. Who would have thought?"

Katara growled a little and did her best not to say anything, but she could already tell that she was going to be fighting with this girl the most. If there was one thing that Katara couldn't stand, it was snooty, I'm-better-than-you royals. And from what she had seen, Azula was certainly no exception.

"Come over here, Kat," Yue patted on the seat to her left with an inviting smile. She was relieved to see that Yue wasn't going to be mean to her, even if they were still technically competing against each other. Though she hadn't been expecting anyone to be friendly to her, it was nice to know that she could at least have someone to talk to there.

Taking her seat next to her friend, she just decided to ignore the Fire Nation Princess altogether. She couldn't get to her if Katara refused to acknowledge her presence, anyway. Besides, most of her time would be spent hopefully talking to Aang anyway. She just hoped that her time with Aang would be spent alone. The last thing she needed if she was going to potentially win this was for others to be able to interrupt her.

"Hey, Yue. How's it going?" Katara greeted her with a smile.

"Oh you know," Yue laughed and rolled her eyes, slightly pointing to Azula with a tilt of her head. "Other than _that_, not bad. We're just waiting for-"

Just as she was about to finish her sentence, none other than the subject of her conversation came in with Gyatso right behind him.

"I'm so sorry I'm late," Aang apologized hastily as he made his way toward the head of the table where Gyatso had told him to sit. Not that he particularly minded, as he suspected if he attempted to sit next to the women competing for him, he would end up with the girls trying to touch him in places he wasn't comfortable with.

Except Katara, that is. He still didn't know as much about her as he would like, but he had learned enough about her to know that she wasn't going to do whatever it took to win his favor. She made it obvious that she valued her dignity more than much else, so he supposed it would be safe to sit next to her. But the others, he had no idea for sure whether or not they would try such a thing.

"Oh, it's quite alright, My Lord," Azula spoke up, putting on as friendly of a smile as she could. "We understand. Don't we girls?"

"Of course!"

"Absolutely!"

"I only wish you were late because of me," Ty Lee broke in rather bluntly, earning a blush on Aang's cheeks that made the other girls growl a little at her. She simply shrugged it off, completely undaunted by their anger towards her. Though she had once been scared of Azula, with some help from Zuko and Mai, she no longer did. Which was part of the reason she had agreed to do this in the first place. It also didn't hurt that he was a good-looking, strong, and nice man.

Once the common anger had settled, Katara decided that she should just be honest. After all, if she was going to marry Aang, she didn't want there to be any lies or anything to be between them. She wanted to be completely honest with him.

"It's okay. I was kind of late, too," she admitted reluctantly, looking down in shame of herself. She knew it wasn't a big deal, but she wasn't very proud of herself at the moment. What if this was the thing that caused her to lose?

To her surprise, Aang actually smiled at her, causing her heart to flutter against her will. "Well, thank you for your honesty, Miss Katara. I appreciate you telling me the truth." Katara smiled back, feeling proud of herself for doing the right thing and that it had proven to pay off in the long run.

Only Azula glared at her, but judging by the postures of the others, none of the other girls were too pleased at this. Though she supposed she wouldn't be too happy if it had been someone else who had decided to do what she did, so she let it drop. As long as they didn't try to physically attack her, she would just shrug it off. Though judging by the look on Azula's face, it didn't seem like physical attacks were completely off the table.

Gyatso cleared his throat and Aang snapped back to attention, addressing the rest of the girls. "Again, I am sorry I'm late, but why don't we put in our orders and we'll get to know each other more?" he suggested with a smile. The girls smiled back and nodded as some of his staff came up to take their orders. Within minutes, the orders had been sent out.

"So," Aang began a little awkwardly, not used to being put in this position. It wasn't every day that he hosted a competition for girls to try to be his queen. He looked to his left and nodded to Azula. "Why don't we start with you? I've met you once before, but I don't really know you all that well. Tell me about yourself."

Clearing her throat, she looked over at him with a small smile, trying not to overdo it but also trying not to _under_do it either. "Well, there's not much to know, truthfully. You know my brother, Zuzu. I'll admit, we don't usually get along, but he's still my brother. Even if we fight, I do my best not to." Aang wasn't sure if she was lying or not, but he decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. She thought more into it. "I like practicing my firebending in my free time. In fact, you could say that I'm a bit of a prodigy," she boasted. "Or at least that's what my father tells me," she attempted to joke, but she was met by complete silence. Shaking her head at herself, she decided to continue on. "I like to watch my people and make sure that they are well." This technically wasn't a lie. She did indeed like to watch them and make sure that they were okay, but only for the reason that they would continue working for her.

"So, would you say that you're a people person?" Aang asked curiously as he took a sip of the orange juice that had been set out for him.

She thought about all the times she had yelled at her servants. Even if they hated her, she knew how to get them to work with her, and that's what she considered to be a "people person". Even if his definition was different than hers.

"Yes, yes I would," she agreed before taking a sip of her juice.

Aang wasn't entirely sure whether to believe her or not. Her heartbeat didn't betray her, but he couldn't tell if it was because she was a really good liar or because she was actually telling the truth. Or at least _thought_ that she was telling the truth.

Deciding it didn't matter anyway, he moved on to the next person in the room. "And what about you, Miss Ty Lee? Anything you feel I should know about you?" he asked curiously.

She tapped a finger on her chin as she thought about it. Was he just imagining it, or… did she seem to be pointing down at her chest? Though there wasn't enough evidence of it, he decided to ignore it to hear what she had to say.

"Well, I'm really good at gymnastics. I'm a fighter, but I figured out a way that disables enemies instead of killing them," she thought aloud, her cheeriness clear in her voice despite clearly being lost in thought.

Aang actually found an interest in hearing about this. He wasn't one to advocate fighting. Even the pro-bending matches, despite being mostly harmless, were often set with specific regulations from him once he had stepped into power. He understood he couldn't get them to not fight, but he could at least make it safer so that there were less chances of anyone getting hurt. Not that they weren't safe in the first place, but still. He hated the thought of anyone getting hurt, whether on purpose or on accident.

"Really? Maybe you could show me sometime. I would love to see how it works," he finally said, displaying an obvious interest that the other girls didn't like very much.

"Oh, why would you want to see her poke some people when you can see me creating some lightning?" Azula cut in. "And who knows? We're both firebenders. Maybe we can create some _sparks_ together," she smiled seductively at him.

"Or maybe I can show you something _I've_ been working on!" Yue interjected, trying to make sure that she was still in the loop. "I've been working on my waterbending for the last few years. Maybe you and I can do some waterbending together."

Katara, being the only one not willing to kiss up to him, thought it would be fun if the three of them got to do some waterbending together. "Let me come, too. I'd like to see how the mighty Avatar would do in a fight," she taunted slightly with a smirk.

Aang noticed this and smirked right back. "Is that a challenge, Lady Katara?"

Her smirk remained firmly in place. Even if she wanted to win, she wasn't going to be like the other girls, and that meant that she wasn't going to back down from this. "Yes it is. Let's see what you got." Although she wanted to win, if he didn't want her for her being herself, then she supposed he wouldn't deserve her. She wasn't going to change who she was for anybody. That was how it always had been, and how it always would be. Her pride wouldn't allow anything else.

"You're on," he grinned, making her smile back at him as they stared into each other's eyes. The other girls noticed this, not appearing very happy about the newcomer.

Azula decided to fix this problem. Taking the food that had been quietly served to them, she spilled some of the rice that had been given to her onto Aang's clothes.

"Oh, I'm so sorry my Lord!" she exclaimed in fake worry, her eyes widening in mock innocence. "Here, let me help." Grabbing a napkin, she started cleaning off the part of his pants that had gotten the rice on it, and then she tried something daring. Without any hesitation, she started wiping centimeters away from his groin.

"Okay! I'm fine, thank you," he exclaimed hastily, feeling like that was a little too close for his liking. Even if he was a guy, he wouldn't allow any kind of touching like that until he was married. Only then would it be permissible. He just hoped that he actually loved whoever it was he would be married to. He didn't want to just have sex, he wanted to make love to his bride. He wanted to build a loving relationship with one of the women there, one that would last for the rest of his life.

And as he had earlier assumed, Azula was not proving herself to be an ideal candidate for being queen. She likely thought he didn't notice anything, but he saw the looks she was giving Katara. Malicious daggers spouted from her eyes as she glared at the poor Water Tribe woman, freezing her in a hateful glare. After all, how did he know that if he did something she didn't like that she wouldn't be doing the same thing? How did he know she wouldn't just try to kill him for power? Though he supposed even if she _had_ succeeded, she wouldn't take the throne. That was why Aang had to pick a second in command. That way if he was ever… brought to an early end, it wouldn't be because his wife was making a move for power. It ensured that whoever the Avatar was marrying didn't have the reason to commit such an act.

Still though, he made a mental note to see if she ever glared at him in such a hateful way. Clearing his throat, he decided to go on down the row.

"So, Jin. I already know a little bit about you. Is there anything else I should know about you?" he resumed the conversation, trying to get to know her more to find out what kind of person she was. He hadn't seen her give any hateful glares, but he had only seen hateful glares from Azula. So either they were all just good at hiding it or they weren't doing it at all.

Jin thought about it for a moment. "Well… There's not that much to know about me," she told him honestly. "What you see is what you get. My family weren't your regular royals. They hated the thought of treating others poorly, and raised me to treat everyone equally. Just because I'm royalty doesn't mean that I'm going to be a jerk."

Several glances in the room went to Azula, but Aang didn't seem to notice.

"Well, that's good to know. Thank you for sharing with me," he gave her a warm smile that made her blush. For what felt like the thousandth time, the girls around him weren't very happy. Least of all the up and coming waterbender. Though she would never admit it, she found that she was becoming jealous of Jin. She wanted him to smile warmly at her like that. She wanted to be the one he was looking at.

_Get a hold of yourself, Katara_, she mentally chided herself. _You're stronger than this!_ Still, the jealousy didn't go away. It just kept burning in her gut as Aang turned to look at Yue.

"And what about you, Miss Yue? Anything I should know about you?" he asked with curiosity brimming in his voice.

However, she didn't need time to think about it. She appeared to be the only one who had prepared for this. "Well, as you already know, I am a waterbender. I'm not a master yet, but I would like to be. And, not many people know this about me, but when I was a baby, I was saved by the Moon Spirit."

Everyone in the room's eyes widened upon hearing this. "Really?" Aang asked in obvious surprise. She nodded. "Well, if you don't mind, I would love to hear the story."

Yue smirked ever so slightly; not enough for him to notice, but Katara did. And she knew why. Because she had his full attention on her.

"When I was born, I was very weak," she began her story, making sure that she still had his full attention. Katara didn't like how captivated he appeared to be at the moment, and it was made obvious as she poked around with her food. "The healers said that I wouldn't live. Then, one night under the full moon, my father prayed to the Moon Spirit to save me. He dipped me into the oasis and my hair turned white. And they saw that I had been healed."

Though Katara didn't want to admit it, she was rather impressed by the story. And judging by the looks on everyone else's faces, they were impressed, too.

"Wow," Aang finally said in surprise. "That's a fascinating story, Miss Yue. Thank you for sharing with us."

Yue flashed a flirty smile and winked, earning a blush on his cheeks. "Oh, it's no problem at all, my Lord," she replied simply with an obvious flirtatious tone.

Once he had finally made his blush recede, he smiled as he looked upon the girl who he had chosen to join the competition. "And you, Miss Katara. Tell me about yourself," he requested politely with a warm smile that made Katara's heart flutter.

_Well,_ _at least I got the smile I wanted,_ she thought before clearing her throat. "Well, truth be told, there's not a lot to say. I was born and raised in the Southern Water Tribe, and I learned to be a master waterbender from master Pakku of the Northern Tribe when I went up there. That's actually where I met Yue," she gestured to her friend.

Aang looked at them both in surprise. "So you two know each other?" The surprise was obvious in everything from his tone to the look on his face.

"Yeah," Yue decided to speak up, cutting Katara off as she was about to speak. "We met while she and her brother were looking around and I gave them a little tour."

"That was nice of you," Aang smiled, making Katara's jealousy boil even more than she had thought possible. Although she knew she shouldn't have really been surprised that Yue wouldn't allow their friendship to get in her way of trying to win the competition.

"Oh please. A tour? I once gave an entire city money because they were poor," Azula cut in. This was true, but it was for her own reasons. The city had been given to her as a gift, and she wanted her city to be the best one in the Fire Nation, and thus had decided to rebuild it. Though she knew it wasn't for the people themselves, she knew her statement was still true.

Ty Lee decided to speak up. "How about I help _you_, your majesty?" she winked flirtatiously at him. "I'm sure that you could use a… _relaxed_ day."

Aang, being ever the innocent one, didn't understand what she was suggesting until it finally hit him, making him flush all the way down to this neck. Ty Lee smirked at this, and all the other girls glared at her.

However, before this could go any further, the time for the breakfast was announced to be over by Gyatso. "Very well. Thank you all for coming to breakfast. You may go back to your rooms. The Avatar will come by your rooms for some personal time to get to know you better, and then we will reconvene for dinner."

The ladies were clearly hesitant. At this point, none of them trusted the other. Even Katara, after seeing how Yue had willingly cut her off to try to get an advantage. She would still hang out with her if she wanted to, but she would be sure to watch her back, so to speak.

They all stood up and bowed to him, though not without walking by and subtly touching him in a flirtatious manner. All of course, except Katara. Though the more time she spent in the competition, the more she found herself breaking down. It went against everything of who she was to do what they were doing, but… although she had a few special moments with Aang, she felt like she was falling behind. And… she didn't know if she could accept that.

For if there was one thing she knew about herself, she was a fighter. And if that meant she had to do something that might damage her pride… Well…

As she started walking out of the room, she stopped at the entrance, feeling herself conflicted. But then, she decided to throw caution to the wind and marched right up to him. Fortunately for her, Gyatso had already left the room, just leaving the two of them there.

"Katara?" Aang asked in confusion. "Is everything alri-" He was cut off as she grabbed his face with her hands and smashed her lips to his. This took him by surprise, and as much as he knew he shouldn't kiss her back, the spark he felt fried his brain and he melted into the kiss. He kissed her back, though neither of them really knew what to do. They had never done this before, but they just let instinct take over for them and before long, figured it out.

After what felt like forever and no time at all, the need for air became too great and they reluctantly pulled apart, both trying desperately to regain their breath.

"What was that for?" he asked breathlessly, still in a bit of a daze that she had left him in.

Despite being breathless, it wasn't the reason she hadn't chosen to respond immediately. She wasn't sure whether she should tell him the truth or not. As much as she knew that she should tell the truth, what if he thought she only wanted him for his royalty because of it? Looking into his eyes, she couldn't lie to him. She just couldn't.

"I'll admit, at first it was because I felt like I was losing," she admitted reluctantly, glancing away in shame. "But… I _really_ liked it…" she looked down at her feet with an embarrassed blush. Glancing up at him, she saw he was about to say something, but she wanted to say something herself before he could. "And just so you know, I'm not in this for any other reason than getting to know you. I don't want you to think that I'm only after being the queen."

At this, he actually laughed a little. "I know you're not. I may not know you as well as I'd like to, but I know you enough by now to know that you're not that kind of girl." He smiled at her. "But I'm glad to hear that you liked it as much as I did."

She laughed and he laughed again, staring into each other's eyes. "So… I'll see you later?" she murmured hopefully.

"Yes you will," he whispered before daring to capture her lips again. She smiled into the kiss and kissed him back for a few moments before they pulled apart.

"Bye," she whispered, feeling a little dazed from the kiss as she waved and started walking out of the room. He smiled and waved back as she looked at him one last time before finally leaving, making him sigh.

He laughed a little at himself. "She just left and I miss her already," he thought aloud. Shaking his head at himself, he snapped out of his daze and walked back to his room. He would need some time to himself to try to get her off his mind. Though he had a strong suspicion that he wouldn't be able to.

As he finally left the room, Yue stepped out from around the corner, an unhappy look on her face. As much as she loved her friend, what was so special about Katara that she got to kiss him? What right did she have to be there at all?

"If I'm going to win, I'm going to need some help," she muttered to herself before she walked away, thinking of ways to make the competition go in her favor.


	4. Alliances

Chapter 4: Alliances

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. **

* * *

The next day, Katara woke up early without any trouble. After the kiss she had shared with Aang… she had been too giddy to even be worried about anything else. The kiss was just… She couldn't even think straight. She had once been disgusted at the thought of being so entranced over a guy, but with the kiss that they had shared, she couldn't help it. She had never felt more alive than when their lips had met. It was like she had been sleeping her whole life, and when they had kissed, like it had finally woken her up.

She wondered if getting another one was out of the question. From what she knew, there were no specific rules about not kissing the man who they were all competing for, but even if there was no such rule, then that meant the other girls could kiss him, too. The thought made her want to gag, but she was still too happy to truly care at the moment.

And she was happy that he seemed to enjoy the kiss as much as she did. After all, he was the one who had initiated their second kiss. But as much as she didn't want to get her hopes up, she couldn't help but feel like maybe just maybe she would win this thing after all…

After breakfast, Aang had indeed gone to visit each of them, and she had been delighted to discover that she and Aang had much in common. They both shared a passion for helping people and of animals. She had even discovered that he had his own flying bison which he had named Appa as a kid. And for his thirteenth birthday as a gift from Gyatso, had also gotten his flying lemur, Momo. The three had been inseparable ever since.

Then they had both talked about their closest friends. She was surprised that they had more friends in common than she had once thought. Toph, Zuko, Mai, and her brother, obviously. He had told her his closest friend was Bumi, but she had never met him before. Though from the brief description he had given her about him, she wasn't sure if she wanted to meet him or not. Judging by some of the stories he had told her about their troublemaking as children, it sounded like he was more than eccentric, as he had described.

Still though, if this man was a friend of Aang's, she supposed that if all went well, she would meet him eventually. The more time she spent with Aang, the more the idea seemed appealing. Katara had never been one to let herself become infatuated with anyone, but she could tell that this wasn't an infatuation. This was something much deeper than that. She didn't want to say the "L" word yet, but the more she got to know him, the more she felt herself missing him. It was ridiculous, she knew, but it was what she was feeling.

And honestly, she was a bit worried. It was obvious that her feelings for him were pretty strong already. And she knew he felt something for her too, but what if it wasn't enough? What if he didn't pick her? At first, Katara had joined this competition because she wanted to get to know Aang more, but if she was being honest, she didn't really expect to win or anything. But now… The idea of losing felt like she was being stabbed in the heart. Because if she lost, that meant that Aang wouldn't want to be with her…

She shook her head from these thoughts. Why was she letting herself get so worked up over him? Never before had she let herself be like this, but she just couldn't help herself. Something about Aang just messed her up. Or maybe it was just _all_ of him that messed her up.

Because thus far, Katara had yet to find one thing she didn't like about him. Despite being the arguably most important person in the world, he was incredibly humble and kind. He never boasted about any of his accomplishments or the fact that he was the ruler of the world. He was simply just him. And she found it rather endearing how easily embarrassed he was. It just proved that he was truly unique, and she liked that about him.

The "L" word kept popping up in her mind, but she shook it from her thoughts. She couldn't possibly _love_ him yet, could she? They had just met two days ago. There was absolutely no way she could have fallen in love with him. No way.

Because if she _had_ fallen in love with him, that would mean if she lost, she would be heartbroken. Though she knew even at this point, if she lost she would be heartbroken anyway. The thought of not being with him made her heart feel like it was being torn in two. Oh, how had she let herself get to this point? She was supposed to be independent for her whole life. Never depending on anyone but her family. Though she had figured she would eventually meet someone, she never wanted to be so attached to them that being without them would physically _hurt_.

Sighing, she decided to just forget about all of her problems for the moment. Whether she actually loved him or not at this point, she knew that every part of her wanted to be with him, so she would just have to focus her efforts on ensuring that that happened.

Though she knew she would have to be careful, especially with the other girls. He had never expected anyone else to be nice to her, but she had hoped that Yue wouldn't let this get in between their friendship. She had been proven wrong at breakfast the day before, much to her disappointment. All in all, she knew she really shouldn't have been surprised. Aang was a catch, not only as the Avatar, but as a person as well.

It was obvious that Azula was only in it for the power she would be granted had she won, but upon seeing how the other girls looked at him, she could tell that, like her, they were mostly after the man themselves. After all, she knew for a fact Yue didn't care about power. So that could only mean that either her parents had forced her to do this or that she genuinely wanted Aang. And judging by the looks she had been giving him, Katara could only assume that it was the latter.

Katara shook her head at herself. It would do her no good to keep thinking about it. If she was going to win this thing, she had to think of ways for herself rather than think of the other girls and their motivations. This wasn't just a competition. This was a war.

Every moment that everyone was gathered was a battle, and whoever caught his attention the most would win it. But she knew winning a battle wouldn't be enough. If she wanted to win the war, she would need to win most of the battles, and with any luck, she would be the one he picked.

With these thoughts in mind, she got up to get ready for the day, not knowing that there was indeed a war beginning, one that would never be forgotten.

* * *

Yue walked around the palace, pondering her thoughts to herself as the first morning rays started peeking over the horizon. She hadn't wanted to do this, but her friend was leaving her little choice. Yue wanted Aang, too. Not because she wanted to be the queen, but because she simply believed that they would be good together. It didn't hurt that he was handsome and one of the most down to earth people she had ever met. She didn't care about the royalty, she just wanted to see if she could be his.

And Katara was getting in the way of that. She had stepped over the boundaries of what she had assumed were rules that they all understood. No kissing while in the competition. Though there was no actual rule against it, Yue had just assumed that everyone figured the same, but it was obvious that Katara hadn't. And this had put her at a disadvantage, something that she could not and would not accept.

But if she was going to pull this off, she would need an alliance. It was obvious that Katara was the front runner of the competitors, and if any of them were going to regain the lead, they would need to work together to get it done.

However, despite Azula's obvious ability to get what she wanted, Yue didn't like the thought of teaming up with her. Not only did she suspect Azula would later betray her, she knew that she was crafty enough to where she could make it so Yue stood no chance at all. No, Azula would not do for an ally.

Ty Lee… No, she would not be an ideal ally for her purposes either. It was clear that Ty Lee's idea of competing was to seduce him into picking her, but Yue didn't see how she could use that without it backfiring on her. No, that wouldn't do.

Obviously Katara was out of the question, otherwise she would be the first one Yue went to, but it wasn't possible. Even if she really wanted to win, she wasn't going to fake an alliance with Katara only to stab her in the back later. She had enough decency to make sure that _that_ wouldn't happen, at least. Yue already felt bad about cutting her off the day before at breakfast. She had never wanted to do anything to compromise their friendship, but it was obvious that Aang seemed to favor her, and Yue had decided to try to use it to get the upper hand.

But now she would need to try something else. Something that, hopefully, wouldn't ruin her friendship with her, but also got her the win. This would prove to be a delicate dance, but it was one that she had already made her mind up on.

And so, it was because of this decision that she made her way towards Jin's room. Yue didn't know Jin well, but from what she could tell, Jin seemed nice. Perhaps she could use that to her advantage. She doubted Jin was high on Aang's list, so if she needed to double cross her, she wouldn't feel as bad about it. She would certainly still feel bad, but not _as _bad.

Finally reaching her room, she took a deep breath before knocking gently on the solid oak door, not wanting to wake anyone other than the person she had come to see. After a few moments of silently waiting, the door finally opened to reveal a sleepy looking Jin with her hair a bit of a mess.

"Princess Yue?" she yawned in surprise. "What are you doing here? Is everything alright?" she asked a little worriedly. She hadn't expected anyone to come to her room.

Jin herself liked Aang a great deal, too. He was sweet and kind, and he made her laugh a lot. The thought of being his queen sounded more and more appealing the more she got to know him.

No one had put her up to this, but it had been encouraged by her people. They had known that she was lonely without her family, and having heard about his legendary kindness, thought that he might be a good person to help fill the void she had felt in her life.

And so far, she had to agree.

"May I come in?" Yue whispered, an obvious hint of caution in her tone. Jin realized that she wasn't completely sure who she could trust. She supposed that would be a fair assumption given the circumstances they all found themselves in. There would be no good reason to trust someone unless you knew them well, but from what she had seen, Ty Lee and Azula knew each other, but certainly didn't like each other. And apparently Katara and Yue knew each other, but Jin suspected that she was the reason Yue had decided to come here.

"Um… sure, I guess," she muttered before allowing her to step inside. Making her way back over to her bed, she sat down on it as Yue sat down at the chair that Aang had occupied the day before. She smiled at the memory. Aang was very funny. If there was one thing she liked in a man, it was the ability to make her laugh and smile, even in the worst of times.

And Aang seemed to be the kind of man who could make her laugh in any situation.

"So," she continued awkwardly, yet another yawn escaping her lips. "What can I help you with?" she asked curiously, wondering just what Yue had in mind.

Yue fumbled around nervously with her fingers. She had never done anything like this before, but she knew it had to be done. She needed to stay in the game long enough to have a chance, and if Katara was allowed to continue without anyone to do something about it, then no one would really get a chance. And Yue wouldn't allow Katara to win fight.

"Well… Firstly, I just want to apologize for waking you up so early," she said, taking Jin by surprise. She knew that Yue had appeared to be nice, but she hadn't expected her to actually _apologize_ for waking her up. _Especially_ after having seen she cut off her own friend just to gain an advantage. So what was her game?

"Oh, it's no problem," Jin replied easily with a wave of her hand. "It's probably a good thing that I got up early. I sleep in too much, so I should probably thank you if anything."

Yue became surprised at this. Jin appeared to be really nice, too. This made it a little harder for her, but she knew there was a possibility she wouldn't have to stab her in the back. She didn't want to stab _anyone _in the back, but she knew how these things went. One way or another, one of the five women would be betrayed. She just hoped that she wouldn't be the betrayed _or_ the betrayer.

"I have a bit of a proposition for you," she began, taking Jin by surprise. Though she supposed she shouldn't be. There was always some kind of alliance involved in these things.

"Let me guess. You saw that Katara is ahead of the rest of us and you want to team up to take her down?" Jin asked, feigning surprise in her voice. "Wow, I wouldn't expect a supposed 'friend' of hers to want to do this."

Yue shook her head quickly. "This is different," she insisted. "I'm not _technically _doing anything to betray her. We both know that we're competing against each other, so as long as I don't do anything to undermine her _directly_, then I'm not betraying her."

Though Jin didn't want to admit it, she realized she had a point. Still though, she didn't like the thought of doing this. She didn't want to be the reason that two friends possibly stopped being friends. Besides, she knew that alliances usually didn't last in such situations. Usually because the ones in the alliance ended up betraying each other.

"So what do you suggest?" Jin finally decided to hear her out. This _could _prove beneficial, but she wanted to hear what she had in mind before she agreed to anything.

Yue looked around quickly, as if making sure that no one would be able to hear her traitorous thoughts. "Like I said, I don't want to do anything that will directly betray her, but if we can take his attention off of her, then we can give us more of a chance."

"And how would you suggest doing that?"

She hadn't actually thought about that. Before she started planning anything, she wanted to make sure that she actually had an alliance to begin with. But, she supposed it would probably be a good idea to have something in mind. "Well… maybe if while we talked to Aang, we could make up bad stuff about her to make him not so interested in her. You know, like say she has weird habits or something."

Jin thought about it, and the idea seemed like it could work. But, then she realized something that could actually help _her_. Not just both of them. And, technically, she wouldn't be doing anything wrong. Or at least, nothing that wouldn't be considered wrong in the eyes of the public, or more importantly _Aang_.

"I don't know, Yue. I'll think about it," she told her before standing up and stretching. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to use the little lady's room." Without another word, she walked out of the room, leaving Yue a bit confused. She had left in a bit of a hurry. Why had she left so hastily? Not to mention that the fact that they each had their own bathrooms.

Unsure of whether or not Jin was actually going to be on her side or not, she decided to look around for something that might help in case Jin wouldn't help. She wasn't going to be _too_ nosy, she just wanted a little something to gain the upper hand in case something happened that she didn't like.

Looking around the room, she noticed something sticking out of the nightstand to the right of Jin's bed. Curious, she walked over to it and opened the drawer. Inside was what appeared to be a magazine of sorts, and on the cover was…

Yue smirked. So, Jin had taken quite a liking to Aang, too? So much so that she had a magazine with his picture on it? This would be perfect for her purpose. If something went wrong, she could show him this and knock Jin down a peg. Satisfied with her search, she grabbed it and discreetly closed the drawer before leaving the room, making sure that no one could see her as she made her way back to her room.

* * *

While Yue had been busy snooping, Jin had decided to execute her brilliant plan. She knew that Yue was likely planning on betraying her, and since she had never made an agreement to be in an alliance, she had every right to do this.

So what exactly did she intend to do? Well, it was quite simple, really.

Yue had confessed to her that she wanted to indirectly mess up Katara's chances, and knowing that Katara wouldn't be happy with this, was on her way to tell her the sad news. Though she wasn't happy about pitting a friend against a friend, she was okay with doing this for two reasons. One, because Yue was willing to betray her friend, even if it was in a small way, and Katara deserved to know this. And, secondly, because it could prove advantageous to have the two water benders fighting.

If she could get them fighting, and then the two Fire Nation girls fighting, maybe just maybe Aang would see that she was staying out of it and that she wasn't going to get involved in the pettiness that was sure to come from it. Though she supposed by telling Katara this, she _was_ getting involved, but Aang didn't need to know that.

All he needed to know was that she wasn't going to let herself get involved in the drama that was sure to come. Because judging by how thick the tension in the air had been, she could only assume that no one there would be going down without a fight.

Finally making it to Katara's room, she was surprised to see that the door was already open. Peeking inside, she didn't see her. Maybe she had gone to get some breakfast? No, they were told the servants would bring them their meals. So where had she gone?

The sound of a door opening interrupted her thoughts, and she was relieved to see Katara walk out of her bathroom. Now she wouldn't have to wander around the palace to find her.

"Um… hi, Katara," Jin said as she knocked on the door rather awkwardly. It wasn't every day that she was about to stir up some trouble. Especially between two people who were friends. In any other situation, she wouldn't go through with it, but she wanted Aang for herself, too. And this just might help her get in his good graces.

Katara, having no idea that anyone was outside her door, squealed a little in surprise as she fell back on her bed. Once the shock had finally worn off, she glanced up and saw that Jin was standing outside her door, leaving her surprised.

"Jin? What are you doing here?" she wondered. Truth be told, Jin was the last person Katara had expected to visit her. She had hoped that Aang might come see her, but she knew it wasn't likely to happen. Then she figured the most likely people to come see her were either Azula or Yue. Azula, she figured, would visit her to threaten her. Yue… she wasn't sure what exactly Yue would do. She didn't think that her friend would threaten her, but she assumed that Yue might try to mislead her. Ty Lee was the second least person she expected to see, though she wouldn't have been _too_ surprised if she had decided to visit.

Jin though, Katara had _not_ expected her to come at all. Jin seemed to be the most normal person there. And the most genuine from what Katara knew of her. So what had Jin come to talk to her about? Was this just a friendly conversation, or... something else?

"Sorry to bother you," Jin apologized, genuinely feeling bad for interrupting her time. "But I just… found out something that I think you should know."

Katara raised a brow at this. Though she had assumed Jin wouldn't partake in these 'games' as she called it, she knew that there was always the possibility that she was wrong. After all, she didn't know Jin very well.. And she knew from experience that people could just as easily tell a lie as they could tell the turh. Which one Jin was deciding on, Katara had no clue.

So it was because of this that she decided to hear her out, in the hopes of discerning what exactly Jin's angle was. Was this just a friendly warning? Or was this a trick to make her look foolish in front of Aang? She had hoped that she would at least be able to make, or in Yue's case, _maintain_ a friend while being there, but the more time she was there, the less likely it seemed to be.

"Well, I just wanted to tell you something that Yue asked me," she admitted, taking Katara by not much surprise. She still couldn't quite figure out whether she was telling her this for her personal gain or just because she was a nice person, but either way, it would be beneficial to find out what exactly she was talking about.

"And what did Yue ask you? Let me guess, she asked you to join in an alliance against me, right?" Katara asked, yawning a little. Jin's eyes widened in surprise. She had not been expecting Katara to figure it out, though she supposed she should have. Katara was clearly smarter than she was willing to let on.

After a few moments of silence, Jin finally nodded. "Yeah, she did. She came to my room and tried talking me into getting into an alliance with her, but I didn't want to," she confessed, choosing every word with the utmost care. If her plan was to be successful, she needed to make sure that Katara would only go after Yue for the moment until she figured out the next steps to her plan.

Katara, however, didn't seem phased. In fact, she seemed to have been expecting this. She must really have been smarter than Jin had originally thought. Not that she hadn't thought she was smart, but her intelligence was more than she had truly suspected.

"Yeah, that doesn't surprise me," she replied easily, brushing out her hair. "Yue's nice and all, but when she wants something, she's not going to let our friendship get in the way of it. Maybe for smaller things, but this isn't exactly a small thing is it?" she laughed.

Jin found herself surprised by how at ease Katara was about this whole ordeal. Most girls would feel heart broken and betrayed by the fact that their friend had decided to go behind their back, but Katara treated it like it was an everyday occurrence. Surely if Jin had a friend there who had later decided to betray her, she would be none too pleased.

But this didn't appear to be the case for Katara. She seemed to think nothing of it. Clearly not taking it personally, just knowing that it was for the competition. It was then that Jin realized that if she wanted the two friends to be at odds, she would need to think of something else.

Something that would pit them against each other, but not enough to ruin a friendship. After all, she didn't want to do that. Just because she wanted to win didn't mean that she was willing to become a monster because of it.

And then it hit her. The perfect excuse for it to start. Why hadn't she thought of it before? "And also, I should probably tell you," her voice lowered to a whisper, acting like her lie was a secret. "Yue told me that… she kissed Aang."

At this, Katara actually stopped brushing her hair, her eyes turning to look at Jin with a dangerous look in her eyes. It was at that moment that Jin realized just why she hadn't been able to tell why Katara was smarter than she showed. Because like a tiger, they were peaceful and friendly as long as they didn't feel threatened. But the moment they did, however, was the moment you looked into its eyes and knew that look meant it was your end.

"She what?" she asked in a chilling deadpan, sending shivers down Jin's spine. The more Katara had time to think about it, the more Jin became scared. The dangerous look in her eyes seemed to only grow worse as she contemplated this, and Jin wasn't sure whether she should stay or bolt out of the room.

"She… kissed… him…" she ground out with a bit of a nervous laugh. Jin was never one to be scared easily, but there was something about the look on Katara's face that made her skin crawl. It was the look of a predator that was about to sink its claws into its prey.

"Oh," she finally said after a few moments of silence, her anger radiating off her in waves. Standing up, she put her brush down on the nightstand next to her bed and looked at the frightened young woman with a face of stone. "Thank you for telling me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some... _business _to attend to."

Jin watched as Katara promptly walked out of the room and out of sight, allowing the scared Earth Kingdom royal to secretly let out a sigh of relief. The look on Katara's face when she heard her lie… It had scared her more than anything else before. She just hoped she hadn't caused _too_ much of a problem. If she didn't want Aang so bad, she wouldn't have lied at all…

Looking out the window, she wondered just what Katara had in mind for her friend, and desperately hoped that the young water bender wasn't going to do anything stupid.

* * *

When Katara had heard about what Yue had 'done', she had been shocked. She knew Yue wanted to win this, too, but she didn't think that she would go _that_ far. Then again, _she_ had, and Yue and her had much in common, so she supposed she shouldn't be that surprised. But still, hearing about it was a wake up call.

This wasn't a competition anymore. No, no. This wasn't some friendly meeting to see who would make a good queen for Aang.

This was all or nothing.

The moment Katara heard of what Yue had done, she knew she couldn't accept defeat. The thought of Aang kissing anyone else but her… it made her want to puke. She wanted to be with him. She wanted to be his queen. Though she wasn't sure if that was love or not, what she did know was that she wouldn't allow anyone else to take him from her.

For Katara had been a mostly selfless person all her life. She had helped Sokka when he fell behind on his chores from either laziness or the forgetfulness that simply came from being a teenage boy. Katara had always been the first person to volunteer if someone in her tribe ever needed help. Whether it was something as simple as helping them tie their laces to their boots or going as far as to babysit six kids so the mother and father could have some alone time.

All her life, she had put others before herself, knowing that it was the right thing to do. And she loved doing it. It made her feel like she was making a difference, no matter how small, when she put others before herself.

But this was different. This was… _personal_. Katara had never wanted much for herself. As long as she had her family, her friends, some warm shelter and some food and water, she would be content to not get anything else in her life. Except for this.

Because now there was something new that Katara found that she didn't want to live without.

Aang.

Katara was never one to be dependent on anybody, and although she would never admit it in a million years, she was sure of one thing. She needed Aang. Though she had known him a short time, he had made her feel more alive than ever before. And although this scared her, he made her feel like life was worth living for more than just going through her everyday life and spending time with her family and friends.

And she believed that Yue had tread into territory that Katara could not accept. For Katara was a fighter, and if Yue thought she could get away with this without one, she had another thing coming. With these thoughts in mind, Katara set out to find Yue, determined to show her 'friend' that losing Aang was not an option.


	5. Friends or Foes?

Chapter 5: Friends or Foes?

Ashley Barbosa: Yeah, I was originally planning on doing On Ji, but I don't know. I just liked the idea of having Jin and Yue in it. And as for Meng… well, if I'm being honest, I don't really like her much, so that's why I didn't put her in. I get you're thinking because both of them had a crush on him, but Aang as an adult is a catch, and that's what I'm trying to show by having all these beautiful, powerful ladies fight for him. Thanks for reading and the review!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. **

* * *

"Ugh! How could she just-" she muttered mutinously to herself as she walked around the halls looking for Yue. Although she knew she was being a hypocrite by saying that Yue had no right to kiss him, she really didn't care at the moment. All she could think about was that horrible imagine in her mind and how badly she wanted to erase it.

There was no time to play around now, she realized. She had known that there would be drama and possibly some fights, but she hadn't expected to get personally involved in it. Her hope was that she would just let everyone else duke it out and then hopefully in the end Aang would pick her. But this wasn't the case anymore. It became personal.

Though she knew there was no explicit rule that they couldn't kiss Aang, Katara had hoped that Yue would at least have enough decency to follow the unspoken rule. She sighed at herself. Again with the hypocrisy. Katara knew she shouldn't be angry, but she couldn't help it. She _had_ to win this, and if Yue was getting in her way, then her friend would be given a piece of her mind.

Finally reaching the hall she had been looking for, she looked around and was annoyed that she could not find her. She had thought that Yue would be out of bed by now and possibly taking her morning walk that she had told Katara about during their visit to the North Pole.

But Yue was nowhere to be seen, much to Katara's annoyance. She became surprised, however, when a door opened to reveal Azula coming out of her room with a towel wrapped around her.

"Peasant," she regarded her disdainfully with an upturned nose as she walked away. Katara blinked in surprise for a second, not expecting to see anyone actually come out in only a towel. But then she realized that was likely Azula's way of trying to seduce Aang.

Normally Katara would be worried, but she knew Aang enough by now to know whatever his decision was, it wouldn't be based off someone's looks or how often they threw themselves at him. Shaking her head of these thoughts, she continued walking around, hoping that she would find her friend.

As she walked, she couldn't help but admire the beauty of the palace. It was certainly lavish and expensive-looking, which she had expected it to, but not so much so that it seemed overdone. Whoever had designed this place had done a good job, she mused.

It made her think about her small home where her family were no doubt wondering how things were going. She wished she could write to them and tell them all was well, but she would be lying. With Yue kissing him, too, it was clear that everything was up in the air at the moment. Besides, she couldn't allow herself to be distracted. She needed to find Yue and tell her to back off.

Though she knew she didn't have any real right to do this, she was going to do it anyway. Yue had crossed a boundary that only Katara had hoped she would cross. Again, she knew she was being a hypocrite, but she couldn't help it. She needed Aang.

And she wasn't going to let _anything_ get in her way. Not even her good friend.

Though she wished Yue hadn't joined in this competition at all, she knew there wasn't much she could do about it now. Because here, there weren't friends. There weren't allies. No. All there was were five women who were fighting over the same man. And Katara wouldn't accept anything less than being the victor.

Finally making it to another hallway, she was surprised to find Yue standing outside of her room, holding something closely behind her back. It appeared to be a magazine of sorts, but why would Yue want a magazine? The only thing Katara had ever seen her read were scrolls.

Deciding that it didn't matter, she walked straight up to Yue and was about to tell her off when Yue noticed her presence and, to her surprise, smiled. "Hey Kat! I'm so glad you're here! I wanted to talk to you about something."

Katara growled lowly in her throat, just low enough for Yue to not notice. "I'm sure you do. What did you want to talk to me about?" she feigned being calm, but there was a storm of jealousy and anger brewing within her heart.

Yue, to her credit, didn't seem to notice this in the slightest and voiced her musings. "Well, I was wondering if you wanted to team up for this."

The confused water bender's eyes opened wide in surprise. "What?"

"I said that I was wondering if you wanted to team up," Yue repeated herself. Yue was tired of feeling like she was sneaking around and betraying her friend. She would much rather cross the other people in the competition, and if it came down between her and Katara in the end, then she would just let what happens happen. She had _hated_ feeling like she was about to disrespect her friend, and wanted to make amends by helping each other out.

But unfortunately for her, she had not heard the lie that Jin had passed on to Katara, making this alliance she was hoping for nearly impossible. "_Really_, Yue?" Katara asked in disbelief. "You kissed Aang, and you think that we can have an alliance?"

Yue's eyes widened in surprise at hearing this. "What are you talking about? I haven't kissed Aang. You did!" she exclaimed with just a hint of anger mixed in with the disbelief.

Katara rolled her eyes. "Oh, save it, Yue! Jin told me everything! You kissed him!" She shuddered at the thought, trying to get that image out of her mind.

The young Water Tribe Princess's eyes widened even more in surprise. Jin had told Katara that Yue had kissed him? She knew she shouldn't have been surprised, but she couldn't help but feel like she had been slapped in the face. Jin had obviously been elusive when she left the room, but Yue had not expected her to create animosity with anyone else.

Shaking her head, she decided that her best chance to secure an alliance would be to tell Katara the truth. "Katara, I _did not_ kiss Aang. Jin just told you that to turn us against each other."

Katara didn't believe her for a second. "Oh come on, Yue. You really expect me to believe that after you cut me off at the table just to get some more face time with Aang? And after how you went to Jin to get an alliance with her against me?"

Yue wanted to argue with her, but she realized she couldn't really argue with that. She knew that Katara had a point. There was no real good reason for Katara to trust anything Yue was saying right now. And frankly, with the way Katara was getting all angry with her, Yue thought of something that would get her even more riled up.

"Fine! I kissed him," she lied with a fake look of resignation.

"Ha! I knew it!" Katara exclaimed triumphantly. "Stay away from him, Yue! I won't kiss him if you won't."

"But I've done more than kiss him, Katara," Yue shook her head with a devious smirk.

Katara narrowed her eyes at her. "What do you mean, you've done more than kiss him?" she asked with a dangerous look in her eyes.

Yue smirked and crossed her arms over her chest. "He and I had sex last night," she lied, immediately making Katara's eyes open in shock.

"You did not!" Katara gasped, her anger spiking dangerously high.

"We did," Yue smirked even more deviously. "We had the _best_ time last night. He was all over me, and I doubt he was thinking of you at all."

Katara growled, trying to hold herself back, but her fighting instincts were kicking in. If she had thought the thought of them _kissing_ was bad, then the thought of them… She couldn't even think it. Her body would likely throw up from how horrible the thought would be.

"Why you…" she growled again before jumping at her, tackling her to the ground.

"Get off me, Katara!" Yue shrieked as Katara started pulling at her hair, knowing that she couldn't really do anything else unless she wanted to be kicked out of the competition. She was fine with it, anyway. Just because she was forced to only be allowed to pull at hair didn't mean she couldn't make it hurt. And make it hurt she would.

Grabbing the bun at the back of Yue's head, she messed with it until all of Yue's hair came flowing out, giving Katara just enough to teach Yue a lesson. Collecting a good chunk of it in her hands, she started yanking at it, making Yue scream out in pain.

"Katara, stop!" Yue screamed.

"Don't sleep with Aang!" Katara yelled back angrily as she continued her yanking.

Yue, still in pain from having her hair yanked, decided to return the favor and grabbed a fistful of Katara's chocolate locks, pulling down on it so roughly that Katara was yanked off of the Northern Princess. After they both took a moment to let the pain subside, they were right back at it as Katara started hitting her weakly. She knew she couldn't do anything too serious, but she thought she could get away with a lot of light slaps. After all, that would still hurt and wouldn't break any bones.

Unfortunately for her, Yue decided to return the favor and hit her back, both of them rolling around trying to get the upper hand. Their noises seemed to cause a problem, however, as a small group of guards moved in to separate them.

It took three full guards to get Katara off of Yue, but after some serious work, finally managed to rip her off of her, leaving them both panting heavily and feeling exhausted. The fight had taken a lot out of them, if their strained breathing was any indication.

"No fighting on the Palace grounds," the lead guard spoke to both of them. "By order and decree of Avatar Aang, there will be no fighting here or during the competition. Failure to cooperate with this rule will result in the loss of the competition. Do you understand?"

They were both reluctant, but eventually let out a long, simultaneous sigh and nodded. "Good. You may go now." The guards walked away without another word, leaving the two… Katara didn't know what they were anymore, alone.

"Well, I'll give you credit. You've got a lot of fight in you," Yue finally decided to speak up.

Katara actually laughed at this, and the two water benders laughed together. For a moment, they were back to where they were before, but it ended just as quickly as it had begun when she remembered the reason that they had been fighting.

"Stay, away, from, Aang," she ground out through her teeth before she finally walked away, leaving Yue saddened. She hadn't wanted to put a strain on their friendship, but the way Katara had been acting when she thought that Yue had kissed Aang… She just couldn't help herself. Katara had gotten on her nerves, especially with the hypocrisy she had been showing.

And as if the situation wasn't bad enough already, Katara came back up and picked up the magazine she had been holding, not bothering to look at it before she tore it piece by piece until all that was were scraps of what had once been the magazine.

Then the young water bender promptly walked away, leaving Yue to sigh. _Well, there goes my backup against Jin_, she thought in annoyance. She watched as Katara marched forward quickly, making her wonder just what the young water bender had in mind.

Katara needed to find Aang. She needed to regain control. If Yue truly had slept with him, then that likely meant that she currently had Aang's favor. And this wouldn't do for Katara. If Yue wanted to play this game, Katara could play it, too.

Looking around the Palace, she was both surprised and delighted to see Aang just leaving his room. She hadn't expected to find him so easily. She couldn't even find her own friend that easily, let alone the ruler of the world.

"Katara," he greeted her with a warm smile that made her insides melt. "It's good to see you. How has your morning been?"

He seemed to be looking at her a bit weirdly, but then she realized it was probably because she had just gotten out of a fight and had been left a mess. "Um, I'm fine. Do you mind if I talk to you for a minute?" she asked hastily, looking around to make sure no one would interrupt them.

"Uh… sure," he replied with a look of curiosity, wondering what she wanted to talk about. He opened the door to his room and walked in, motioning for her to follow. She quickly fixed her hair as best she could and checked her breath. Fortunately for her, she had taken a mint before Jin had come to tell her about what Yue had "done".

Stepping inside, she closed the door behind her and sat down next to him on the bed where he had been patiently waiting for her.

"So… What did you want to talk about?" he asked curiously, with just a hint of wariness in his tone. He could see something different in her eyes at the moment. Something that scared him a little, and yet at the same time oddly excited him. He didn't know what to think about it.

Katara, who had quickly decided to do this without actually thinking about how she was going to go about actually _doing it_, hesitated for a moment. Then, she decided to just do what she had been wanting to do since their kiss the day before.

She looked into his eyes and grabbed his face with her hands, pulling him into a searing kiss that took him completely by surprise. He supposed he shouldn't be too surprised at this. After all, this was more or less what he had been wanting since their kiss the day before, too. But she had taken the initiative and done it first. Though he supposed he shouldn't complain and decided to just go with it.

He returned the kiss with vigor, reveling in the sweetness of her lips. He wasn't sure if it was just because he hadn't kissed anyone else before or if it was just because it was her, but either way, he was enjoying himself immensely as they let their emotions take over for them.

Katara felt like she was on top of the world. Although she knew that this in no way meant that she would win the competition, just being able to do this with him made her feel like if she had to die right then, she would die happily. Unfortunately for her, it didn't last long.

She was then reminded of what Yue had told her. Images of her friend and the man she was currently kissing doing… _that_ made her remember why she had come there. If Yue wanted to challenge her by having sex with Aang, then Katara would step up to the plate and do what she needed to do to win Aang's heart.

Once she was satisfied that Aang seemed to be completely lost in the kiss, she snaked her hand from his face and ran it down from his neck to his chest, sliding all the way down his abdominals before she found what she was looking for.

He both moaned and gasped as she grabbed his manhood, making him harden instantly as she continued to gently squeeze it. Part of him wanted to give in to her, but the other part of him that knew that this wasn't the right time won out as he broke the kiss.

"Katara, no," he gasped, trying to catch his breath so he could voice out his thoughts.

"Come on, Aang," she whispered seductively as she moved her mouth to his ear, lightly nibbling on it that made him shiver. It was getting harder and harder to resist her. Even if she looked a bit of a mess, he knew that she was a beautiful mess. And a part of him wanted to make even more a mess of her.

But unfortunately for her, his morals won out. "No, Katara," he repeated himself more firmly, moving her away so he could look her in the eyes. "Not right now."

Katara got angry at him. "So you'll have sex with Yue, but you won't have sex with me?" she questioned him crossly.

The Avatar's eyes widened in shock, completely unexpecting to hear this. "What?" he asked in disbelief.

She rolled her eyes and looked away from him. "You heard me. Why will you sleep with Yue, but not me? Is there something wrong with me?" she asked sadly with a downcast look on her face.

Aang shook his head so quickly, she worried that it might just fly off. "No! Of course not! Katara, you're absolutely beautiful and amazing and-" he cut himself off as he found that if he continued it would only get worse. Taking a deep breath, he continued. "I don't know where you heard _that_, but Yue and I did _not_ have sex."

Katara's eyes widened in surprise. "You didn't?"

"No!" Aang laughed a little. "Katara, I told you when I invited you to this that I wasn't going to be having sex with anyone. And that's a promise I intend on keeping. Besides, I hardly know her! I might know her more than I did before, but not enough to have sex with her!"

Although Katara was relieved that he hadn't had sex with Yue, another question popped in her mind. "Wait, did Yue kiss you?"

"No, Yue didn't kiss me, I didn't kiss her. The only person I've kissed is you," he admitted with a light blush on his cheeks.

Katara couldn't help but smile widely at this as she let out a long sigh of relief. So he hadn't kissed or had sex with anybody else. It amazed her how much stress had been taken off her shoulders from hearing this. "Oh. Okay."

"You seem relieved," he noted with a small laugh.

She blushed and glanced away. "Yeah… maybe a little."

He quirked a brow, curious. "Why would you be so worried? You do realize that you're my favorite so far, right?"

This admission took her by surprise as she looked right at him. "I am?" she asked in disbelief.

"Of course you are," Aang taking one of her hands in his. "Katara, there's a reason why I asked you to join the competition and why I made a new rule so that you could join." He looked at her small, soft hand and smiled. "/Although I don't know you as well as I'd like to yet, I know you enough to know what kind of person you are."

He took a moment to choose his next words carefully, not wanting to mess this up. "For a long time, I've felt alone. Don't get me wrong, my family was great and Gyatso is like a second father to me, but I've always felt like something's… _missing_."

Aang looked up at her. "Until I met you." Katara's eyes widened at this. "When I first stumbled into you," he laughed a little. "_Literally_, I guess. But when I stumbled into you, I didn't feel so lonely anymore. That's why I wanted you to join. Something about you… just draws me to you."

Taking a deep breath, he looked right into her eyes. "I don't know if that's love or not, but what I do know is that you're an amazing person, inside and out. So yes, you're my favorite so far."

A small tear escaped Katara's eye, startling Aang. Seeing that he was about to ask what was wrong, she shook her head quickly and wiped it away. "Nothing's wrong. I just… I didn't expect you to say that." And although she knew she shouldn't, she couldn't help herself as she once again brought his lips to hers.

Aang was surprised at the sudden kiss, but her certainly wasn't complaining. After a few moments, they reluctantly pulled apart and looked at each other. "Do you feel better now?" he asked with a laugh.

She laughed as well and nodded, wiping another tear from her eye. "Yeah, I do." Katara was silent for a moment, and against her better judgement, decided to go through with it anyway.

"Um… Aang?"

He smiled at her. "Yeah, Katara?"

She fiddled with her fingers nervously, not sure whether she should actually go through telling him this or not. On one hand, if she did tell him, she might scare him off. On the other hand, if she did tell him, he might tell her that he feels the same. But Katara supposed it didn't matter all that much, anyway. He still had to consider all of the other competitors before he made a final decision, so she supposed it couldn't hurt anything.

"Look, this might be a little early to say right now," she began with nervousness apparent in her tone. "And I don't know for sure, because I've never felt like this before. But…" Taking another deep breath, she decided to just get it out and deal with the consequences. "I think I might… love… you…" she admitted with a blush.

She expected him to shriek in surprise. To tell her to leave the room. For her to leave the palace and never come back. But she was surprised to find that this wasn't the case.

"I think I love you too, Katara," he replied with a soft smile.

"Really?" she gasped.

Laughing a little, Aang nodded and looked down at his feet. "Like you said. I don't know for sure. I've never been in love before." He looked up to meet her eyes. "But I've never wanted to kiss someone as much as I want to kiss you. I've never connected with anyone as much as I have with you."

Katara simply couldn't take it anymore and smashed her lips to his, getting as close to him as she possibly could. He smiled into the kiss and kissed her back for a few moments before he pulled away from her, making her groan at the coldness that was left over from where his lips had been.

"But even though I think I love you," he continued. "I still have to be fair and get to know the others, too. I can't just decide now."

Although Katara didn't like that very much, she understood his reasoning and knew that he was right. "Okay," she sighed. "But I think it's safe to say that I hope you pick me."

He laughed and gave her a kiss. "Hey, like I said. You're definitely my favorite right now." She smiled at this and kissed him again.

"Okay. So, I'll see you later?" she asked hopefully.

"Of course," he laughed before giving her another kiss. "We have that dinner tonight, remember?"

Katara laughed as she remembered. "That's right. _That_ should be interesting." Giving him one last kiss, she got up from the bed and smiled at him. "Bye."

"Bye, Katara," he smiled, making her smile back at him before she left the room. Closing the door behind her, she couldn't keep the wide smile off her face. So they loved each other. This was what she had been hoping for, but she couldn't help but be a little surprised. She hadn't expected to fall this hard and this fast.

And although she was still scared that she might lose, she felt better knowing that he at least loved her. That would certainly help her chances. With that happy thought in mind, she made her way back to her room to unwind for a while. But as she walked back to her room, what she wasn't aware of was that someone had heard their conversation.

"So. The little water peasant loves the Avatar and he loves her?" Azula sneered in disgust. "Not for long. He can't love her if she's not here." The Fire Nation Princess then walked away, thinking of ways to get the unsuspecting water bender out of her way.


	6. The Dinner

Chapter 6: The Dinner

**Responses to Reviews: **

**Javier: Thanks! I tried to make it so that it was believable. Katara's definitely a fighter, but I know that she would still be hesitant, especially around her friend, so hopefully I made it believable. **

**Ashley Barbosa: The reason why I don't really like Meng… Don't get me wrong, Meng was nice and all, but just with the fact that she seemed too clingy to Aang and stuff, she just kind of rubbed me the wrong way. That, and it might be because even when I was little and the show was just starting, I was a diehard Kataang fan back then, so seeing someone else trying to win Aang kind of subconsciously made me not like her since I was rooting for Kataang. The same goes for Jet. Even now I can't force myself to watch the "Jet" episode because I hate that Katara liked him. I've been a diehard Kataang fan since I was little and I probably always will be, so that's probably why. Though I suppose that logic doesn't really work, because I don't really mind On Ji and she definitely had an interest in Aang, so it might be both, I guess. Also, I don't like that she called Katara a "floozy" at the end of "The Fortune Teller" episode, so that could be why, too. **

**flip the pancakes: To be honest, I'm not entirely sure yet. I haven't really thought that far ahead. The story's pretty much centered around the competition, but I might do an epilogue after the competition's over, so I'll just have to see what I'm feeling. **

**KatMora606: This is more in response to your review from "Confessions", but I'm glad that you liked it that much. Truth be told, I wasn't crazy about it at first. It felt lacking, but if you guys like it, then I'll keep it. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. **

* * *

Aang was busy the rest of the day. For his up and coming coronation, there were many moving pieces that needed to be just right for it all to go smoothly. All of his generals had to be in attendance, the people had to have a spot where they could all be there to witness it if they so wished, and of course the post-coronation party that would take place where Aang would meet the world's leaders and his new subjects as the official Avatar. There were many other things, but fortunately for him, a good chunk of it was being taken care of by his closest advisors and his new second in command, Bumi.

Although his assumption of Bumi being a bit eccentric was correct, Bumi was proving himself to be a more than capable enforcer to carry out his commands. Already, he had ensured that some new laws were being made official and doing everything he could to make sure that they weren't being broken.

And it also didn't hurt that this position meant he would get to spend more time with his best friend, of course.

But as time went by, Aang found that he was going to miss not being the official Avatar. As much scrutiny as he was under now, he would be under even more so when he would be officially crowned. That, and he wasn't the kind who wanted power. He just wanted to help the world be a better place, and if that meant he had to rule over them, then that was what he would do.

Shaking these thoughts from his mind, he continued his walk to the main balcony of the palace. He supposed this would be where he would make his official announcement of whoever his wife would be. And although he knew he wanted Katara to be his queen, he still had to give the others a chance. Just because he loved her didn't mean he was just going to be biased. They were all there for a reason, and he knew he owed it to them to give them a fair chance to prove themselves.

He liked all of them except for Azula. Azula was fake. That much was obvious. Everything she said was cold and calculated, or, in the case that she was attempting to flirt with him, then untruthful. He knew she only wanted him for his power, and he didn't really care. She was the only one he knew was completely out of the question.

Jin… Jin was really nice and sweet. He hadn't met a lot of girls in his life before. Or, at least girls around his age, but from what he had heard from his friends, most girls weren't typically… _normal_. Jin appeared to be pretty normal, though, if her actions thus far were any indication. She made it clear that she didn't see any indistinction between royals and subjects, and he liked that. After all, if he was a subject, that's what he would want in a queen.

Yue. Yue was nice, too. He had gotten to know her pretty well over the talks they'd had thus far. Though he didn't entirely understand why Yue had told Katara that they had… done _that_ together. He wouldn't allow anything like that to happen until he was married, but he supposed it was likely because they were all being pitted against each other.

And that was just _another _reason he was against this stupid competition. All of these women could have been great friends if it weren't for this competition, but instead they would likely end up as enemies once it was all over. And Aang didn't like that it seemed to be getting in the way of the two Water Tribe girls' friendship. It was for this reason especially that he loathed whatever was going on through his ancestor's mind.

But he knew there wasn't much he could do about it but hope that everything turned out for the best.

Ty Lee… Of course she was pretty and nice, but it was clear she wasn't the _brightest _girl in the world. She wasn't dumb, per se, but she just seemed like she was a bit of an airhead. And that was coming from someone who's favored bending was air.

Though he supposed smarts didn't matter all that much in the position of the queen. The queen of course did help the Avatar in his rule, but most of the decisions were made by the Avatar him or herself. The Queen was primarily there to keep the Avatar company and to put out a pretty picture for the world to see. After all, everyone trusts in a family if they look good and unified.

So it was because of this reason that he decided to not base intelligence as the factor of who would be his queen.

And Katara… Just the thought of her made him smile. He knew he shouldn't let his feelings for her get in his way, but he couldn't help it. She was just so amazing. So kind and comforting. And a pretty good kisser despite the fact that neither one of them had kissed anyone else.

They had a lot in common and she seemed like she would be a great queen. She was strong-willed and cared deeply for others, something that he would like his queen to be. For if he was going to rule his kingdom, he wanted someone at his side who would want to help others as much as he did. And judging from what he knew of Katara thus far, she seemed to be the perfect fit.

But he knew he couldn't make any final decisions yet. He still owed it to the rest of them to give them a fair chance, and that meant getting to know them more and actually taking the time to consider them before making his decision.

So it was with that thought that he stood out on his balcony, wondering just what the future held for him. He had never ruled the entire _world_ before, but he had confidence that with his advisors and friends that he would be able to pull it off.

Especially if his queen was willing to help him through it.

As these thoughts went through his mind, he was too lost in thought to hear footsteps behind him as a hand was placed on his shoulder, finally snapping him out of his thoughts as he turned to see Gyatso.

"Hey Gyatso," Aang greeted him with a smile. "How's it going?"

Gyatso chuckled a little and shook his head. "I think that _I'm_ the one who should be asking _you_ that question. I'm not the one who has to pick a queen and then rule over the entire world." Gyatso did not envy Aang's position one bit.

Aang himself laughed as well. "All things considered, I'm doing fine, I guess. But you're right, this competition has been… an _experience_." Gyatso laughed with him before he became serious again. "But I don't like what it's doing to the girls."

Gyatso looked at him in bewilderment. "What do you mean?"

"Princess Yue told Katara while they were fighting that I had slept with her." Gyatso looked at him in surprise, but Aang didn't even flinch. "I know what you're thinking, and no, I didn't sleep with her." Gyatso let out a noticeable sigh of relief, making Aang smile a little. If nothing else, he knew he could always count on Gyatso to be there for him.

"That is good. Because if you had gotten her pregnant, you would have no choice but to make her your queen," Gyatso informed him, making Aang wince at the thought. He knew he was being forced to do this, but there was no way he was going to allow himself to be forced into a marriage because of a pregnancy. Just another reason why he wouldn't have sex with anyone yet. Even if he wouldn't necessarily mind marrying Katara because of it, he still didn't want to start his marriage like that. That's not the story he wanted to tell his children.

"Don't worry, Gyatso. It won't be a problem." He laughed a little as he watched the setting sun sink beneath the horizon. "You know that I'm not that kind of guy. If I'm going to do… _that_, it's going to be with whoever I'm married to."

Gyatso nodded and put a hand on his shoulder. "I know. I am very proud of you, Aang. Most young men your age would be trying to get in the pants of every woman they could, but you have something they don't. Honor. Pride. Dignity. All of these are required to be a good Avatar, and I am confident that you will be one of the best."

Aang felt moved by Gyatso's show of faith in him and nodded to him gratefully. "Thank you, Gyatso. That means alot to me."

His mentor just smiled and nodded before watching the sun finally disappear out of sight, leaving the stars and the moon to shine in the night sky. "Come now. It is time for your dinner with our guests. You wouldn't want to keep them waiting _again_, would you?" he teased slyly.

Aang scoffed. "If I remember correctly, I was late because of you." They both laughed and started walking back into the palace.

"That's not quite how I remember it, but whatever you say, your highness," Gyatso chuckled, putting an arm around his pupil. "Now, let's go have dinner. I've been anticipating tonight's tofu all day." Aang laughed as they continued walking, secretly wondering just what would happen during this dinner.

* * *

Katara was both excited and nervous for the night's dinner. She was excited because it was another chance to talk with Aang and get to know him more, but she was also nervous because things had not exactly been going well with the competition lately.

Despite all of her promises to herself that she wouldn't allow herself to get caught up in it, she now had. She had gotten in a fight with Yue over a lie, and now she wasn't even sure if they would be able to be friends anymore. Katara knew she had no right to tell Yue not to kiss Aang, but she just couldn't help herself. She knew she wanted to be with Aang, and the thought of him kissing some other girl… it made her want to puke.

So it was because of that reason that she had nearly lost her mind in the effort to get Yue to leave Aang alone, but she knew that she should have known better. Yue wanted to win this, too, after all. And Katara found that she couldn't blame her. Aang was truly unique. He was the most kind, sweet, down to earth person she had ever met before. She had met plenty of men in her life, but none of them were ever anything like Aang was.

Men like Aang were all too rare in their world, so she knew that the girls were probably going to fight for him as much as she was willing to. Though she supposed that she was lucky enough that they agreed that they loved each other. That still didn't guarantee anything, though, as Aang still had to take everyone in consideration, regardless of his feelings.

And she understood that. Because truthfully, this competition wasn't for Aang personally. This was to ensure that the Avatar had someone beside him that would be a good queen for the rest of the world to rule at his side. She understood that, and though she didn't like what it could potentially mean, she knew that there wasn't much she could do but hope that he chose her in the end, anyway.

And so it was with that thought that she finished getting ready and looked at herself in the mirror. She had been doing everything she could to make sure that her appearance at least competed with the other girls, even if she hated feeling like she was becoming one of them.

_It's only until this competition is over_, she reminded herself. _When this is finished, you'll never do it again. Just remember that._ With that reassurance in her mind, she looked one last time in the mirror and started making her way to the dining room where they were all told to meet.

It amazed her just how big the palace was. Even after being there for a few days, she still wasn't used to just how much space and fancy trinkets and things scattered throughout the hallways. The biggest house she had ever been in was the igloo that they had called home back when they lived in the South Pole. The house they currently lived in was certainly smaller, but truth be told, they didn't need a large house. Katara was never one to like extra space. It made her feel like she was farther away from the ones she loved with so much empty space between them. If she had to choose between a mansion or a small house, she would pick the latter every time.

Though she supposed if she won this competition that she wouldn't have that choice. But that would be okay. If it meant that she got to be with Aang, then she would just deal with it. Besides, she could get used to it. Katara was not only a fighter, but an adapter. She adapted to her surroundings so she could fight as best she could, so she knew how to transition to things she wasn't used to. After all, she had grown up in the freezing arctic weather of the South Pole. It had taken her some time, but she was now well-acclimated to Republic City and enjoyed the moderate temperature. It wasn't too hot or too cold. It was just right.

She wondered how her Gran-Gran was adjusting. Kanna had been there even longer than her, so she couldn't imagine how hard it must have been to just leave her home like that. Though she supposed now at least that the cold wouldn't affect her Gran-Gran anymore. Maybe Kanna would come to enjoy Republic City like Katara did.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she continued walking when someone bumped into her. Whether it was intentional or not, she had no clue. Snapping out of her thoughts, she looked up to see Azula frowning at her.

"Oh. Hey Azula. Sorry if I bumped into you," Katara apologized sheepishly.

Azula huffed with her arms crossed over her chest. "AS you should be, _peasant._ Do you know what happens when you cross royalty?"

Katara rolled her eyes. She had attempted to be nice, but Azula was really starting to get on her nerves. Though she had little interaction with her over the time she had spent there, she could see it in everything from her posture to her tone that Azula thought quite lowly of her just because she wasn't technically royalty anymore. And Katara did not like it when people were jerks because of their station.

"Well, consider my apology taken back. If you're going to be a jerk, I'm not going to apologize to you," she shot back before continuing her walk.

"Aang doesn't seem to think I'm a jerk. In fact, I'd say that he rather likes me," Azula called out uncaringly to her, making Katara stop in her tracks and roll her eyes.

Turning around, she looked at Azula with disbelief shining in her cerulean eyes. "You really think Aang would like _you_? Aang's an actual nice person. You… you're a bratty, spoiled princess who gets whatever she wants because her daddy lets her. I might not be royalty anymore, but at least I don't treat other people like they're mouse-rats." Katara attempted to turn back, but Azula was not quite done with their conversation.

"Oh really? Then why did he tell me that he liked me?" Azula lied with a yawn, waiting for Katara to figuratively explode on her.

She was wrong, however, because Katara still wasn't buying it. "Oh please, Azula. It's a miracle that he hasn't kicked you out of the competition yet. He can see through your lies. He's not going to marry someone who only wants him for his power."

Azula didn't offer any admittances. "So what if I only wanted him for his power? This isn't a match up to see who he loves. This is a competition to see who can prove themselves to be the most fitting queen to rule at his side. This was never about love."

Katara looked at her in disbelief. She had known that Azula was heartless, but to say that out loud… She didn't know if she would be able to hold herself back from attacking Azula. The Fire Nation princess was treating Aang like he was simply a means to an end and nothing more. She couldn't stand to see anybody actually think of him like that. He was so much more than just someone to gain power from.

"The whole reason _I_ entered this competition was for love," she shot back angrily. "Stop thinking of Aang like he's just some guy that you can use for power. He's so much more than that."

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I _do_ like him," Azula responded simply. "It certainly will be a bonus that a handsome and strong man will be mine, but let's be honest, you only joined this competition for power. I don't know why you bother lying to yourself, but whatever works for you," she shrugged uncaringly with a smirk that Katara couldn't see. She could see from the look on Katara's face that she was getting to her.

"No. This was never about power to me," Katara snarled back, feeling her temper rise with each passing word. She knew she had to calm down, but Azula was really getting to her. But that was exactly what she wanted, Katara realized. Azula was playing her, hoping to get her angry for some reason. And she knew she wouldn't allow herself to fall into whatever Azula was planning. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a dinner to go to."

And without another word, she stormed off, leaving an amused Azula smirking. She hadn't gotten her as riled up as she had wanted to, though she supposed it would be enough for the first part of her plan. Besides, she would be even more agitated later from the second part of her plan. And then she would win. The annoying peasant would be gone and Azula would take her rightful place on the throne. With that happy thought in mind, she started following Katara there, already imagining the things she would do as queen.

* * *

Aang was proud of himself. He had shown up on time for dinner and was currently sitting at the seat at the head of the table. As he looked around the table at the beautiful girls who were all competing to be his, he couldn't help but feel a little pressured. Gyatso had informed him that he needed to make a decision sooner rather than later. The sooner that he was officially in power, the less likely people would be out to kill him to try to take power. Not that that would work, anyway. He had ensured that if someone _had _ended his life before he could be crowned that Bumi would take over, and Bumi would never hire a hit on him, so he wasn't too worried. But still, the Avatar line needed to continue, and it was because of that reason that he had agreed to make his decision that night.

Of course Katara was his favorite. Not only because he loved her, but because all in all she was the most ideal choice for the position. Despite being a peasant, she was a sweet and kind girl who cared deeply for others and wanted to help the world almost as much as he did. And they had much in common, which would mean that there wouldn't be many disagreements about policies and such.

But he knew he had to take the night to think it over, _really_ think it over. This just might be the most important decision of his life. It would be the decision that decides who he spends the rest of his life with, after all.

"My Lord?"

He snapped out of his thoughts and looked up to see Jin looking at him in concern.

Clearing his throat, he nodded to her. "Yes?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just concerned for you. You seemed to be a little out of it. I just wanted to make sure that you were okay," she admitted with concern written on her face.

Aang smiled a little at this. Even if he knew that hey were all somewhat kissing up to him, he could tell when something was fake and when something was genuine. And he could tell that her concern for him was genuine.

He supposed that all in all, as long as he didn't pick Azula, he wouldn't have a bad life with any of the other girls. He got along with them very well, and they were all nice and beautiful. Some were more so than others, but it was comforting to know that whoever he picked he could have a good life with.

But he knew that the reason why he couldn't just pick Katara was because whoever he picked to be his queen was for the benefit of the world, and not for his own benefit. Or at least that was how it was intended to be, but he supposed that likely one of his ancestors had been a bit selfish in picking their life partners.

"Yes, I"m fine, thank you," she smiled back at her. "Just thinking a bit. Thank you for your concern." Jin smiled back and nodded, making all of the other girls unhappy that she had seemed to gain some favor with Aang form that.

Azula still wasn't very worried though. Once the Water Peasant was out of the way, she would make sure that she won. There was no other option for her other than winning, she had decided.

Looking across from her, she saw that Katara was quietly eating her meal, obviously doing her best not to show how awkward things were between her friend and herself at the moment. Though she supposed that if she had been in that situation, she would likely be doing the same.

Not that it mattered, anyway. For it was now time for the second part of her plan to go into effect.

Fortunately for her, she had been seated close to Aang. Not as close as she would like, but it was close enough to suit her purpose.

"So, Avatar Aang. How has your night been?" she asked as politely as she could while taking a sip of her water.

Aang became confused at the question. She had never asked a question like that before. What was her game? Deciding that it didn't matter, he shrugged while taking a bite of his food, making sure to chew and swallow before he allowed himself to speak. "Oh, it's going just fine, thank you. How could it not be? I'm in some of the best company in the world," he said with a smile as he looked at each of the girls.

They giggled and smiled back at him before Azula decided to continue with her plan. "Well, how about _I_ make it even better later?" she murmured lowly, reaching a hand underneath the table to rub his pants.

The young Avatar moved her hand off of him, albeit reluctantly. He didn't want to seem like a jerk, but he didn't want anyone touching him around _there_ until he was married. He understood that it was an attempt to persuade him to choose her, but he wasn't going to allow it to happen.

But his reluctance seemed to cause a problem as the young Water bender took his reluctance to remove Azula's hand as if he _wanted_ her to touch him down there. This made her very angry. Aang loved _her_, right? So why would he want _Azula_ to touch him?

"No thank you," he finally replied, trying to be as kind with his rejection as possible. He didn't want to hurt her feelings, but there was no way he was going to do _anything _with Azula.

"Oh come on, my Lord. Just a little bit of fun later and you'll see just how good of a queen I would be," she winked with a flirty smile. This made Katara's jealousy boil even more as she saw Aang blush, making her want to strangle Azula right there.

"No thank you," he repeated himself more forcefully, but not unkindly. Azula saw that Katara was on the verge of snapping and decided to finish the job. She moved closer to him and attempted to kiss him right there in front of everybody, making everyone else gasp. They had not expected her to be so bold.

Aang himself was frozen in shock at her boldness. He knew he should stop her, but he was so surprised that he couldn't think as she leaned in closer. He was too surprised to do anything at the moment.

Fortunately for him, he didn't have to.

Azula was pushed away back into her chair. She grinned triumphantly and looked up to see what he had been expecting, but it wasn't what she had thought.

Instead of Katara being the one who had pushed her, it was Yue. And she looked quite angry.

"Stay, away, from, him!" she ground out through her teeth.

Although she knew this wasn't what she had been hoping for, she knew she could at least get Yue out of the way if nothing else if she played her cards right. "And why should I? You don't control me," she smirked before she attempted to move over to Aang again. She was stopped, however, by a hand on her shoulder from behind her.

This time, it was Ty Lee. "Oh no you don't. You've messed up my life enough, Azula. You're going to play this fair and square."

She yawned uncaringly. "Or what?"

Ty Lee didn't respond, just watched her warily. Azula didn't like where this was going, but she was in too deep now. She needed to continue with this and hopefully something would finally go right. She attempted to walk towards him again, but Yue jumped her, dragging her to the ground with her. Ty Lee jumped in as well, feeling happy that after all the years of suffering Azula had inflicted on her that she would be able to pay some of it back.

Jin, to her credit, wisely decided to stay out of it. She didn't like Azula either, but she saw no need to fight.

Katara's temper, however, was at an all time high. Azula had just tried to kiss him. _Twice._ She had tried to kiss the man Katara loved twice and, though she knew she shouldn't, jumped into the fight, letting all of her anger go into making Azula pay for pissing her off.

Aang, who was still in shock that all this was happening at their dinner, wasn't sure what to do. He hated that they were fighting at all, but he was still in a state of surprise. They all had Azula pinned down on the ground and were pulling her hair, knowing anything else could possibly get them landed in the dungeon. This still didn't sit well with him, however, because they were still fighting.

"Guards!" he yelled. A large group of guards came running in to break up the fight. Even with their combined strength, it took several minutes for them to get all of the girls off of Azula. When they finally had, Azula's hair was a complete mess.

Katara couldn't help but feel a little satisfied about the state of Azula at the moment. She looked worn down and like she couldn't lift a finger against them. Though she supposed having her hair pulled by three girls would likely do that to a person.

Her satisfaction dropped when she saw the look on Aang's face. It was the look of disappointment. He was disappointed in them all, but more importantly, he was disappointed in _her._

Azula, however, despite being exhausted from trying to fight was finally happy. Not only had Yue fought her, but so had Katara and Ty Lee. Ty Lee hadn't been in a fight before, but she knew Yue and Katara had fought each other. And the pinnacle of her plan was about to fall into place before her eyes because of it.

Aang looked sadly at each of them, but Katara couldn't take the sadness on his face as he looked at her. It was at that moment that she remembered what the guard had said after her fight with Yue. _Failure to cooperate with this rule will result in loss of the competition._ So that meant…

The young Avatar finally took a deep breath and shook his head. He should have known it would come to this. He had tried to find actual love, but the one girl he actually loved had broken his rule. And he couldn't show favoritism during this, so that meant that this needed to be done.

"I'm sorry," he began sadly as he looked at her and then to Yue, then back to her. "But rules are rules. I know about your fight earlier and now with this one… I'm afraid I have no other choice."

Tears started streaming down Katara's eyes, but as much as Aang wanted to wipe them away, he couldn't. She had made her choice, and it seemed they would both be suffering from it.

"You two can no longer participate in the competition. Thank you both for trying out, but you were given a fair warning to not fight again and you have. I'm truly sorry," he finished while looking Katara in the eyes, the saddest look on his face she had ever seen. It broke her heart. All of the work she had put in to try to win his heart. All her worries and fears that had made her jealous… they had been her undoing in the end.

"You may stay for tonight, but I must ask that you go home tomorrow." Clearing his throat, he wiped a tear that had made its way down his cheek and looked to all of them. "I'm a bit tired, so I think I'll go to bed early. Tomorrow, I will announce who of the rest of you will be my queen, so be ready at noon. Thank you, and good night."

Walking out of the room, he stopped at the entrance and looked over his shoulder sadly one last time at Katara, who at this point had even more tears streaming down her face. He smiled sadly at her before finally walking out of the room, leaving Katara feeling like she had just died inside.

"Well, that went about as well as I had hoped," Azula smirked evilly as she started walking out of the room. "Ta, ta, water peasant."

Katara growled and was about to attack her again, but Yue held her back, shaking her head. "Don't. It's only going to make things worse," she whispered to her.

Letting out a long, frustrated and dejected sigh, she nodded slowly and walked back to her room, cursing herself for being so stupid. She should have just stayed out of it. She should have just let _them _do it. Her stupid decision had costed her the love of her life.

* * *

**Hey guys! Don't worry, this isn't the end! I know I kind of made it seem like it was, but the next chapter is the last one and possibly an epilogue after, so hold on for that. Anyway, just wanted to make sure you guys knew this wasn't the end of the story. Thank you guys for reading and I'll see you next chapter!**


	7. Undying Love

Chapter 7: Undying Love

**Responses to Reviews: **

**Javier: Yeah, I'm sorry that I kind of left it off at a bad cliffhanger, but I promise, you'll see just why I did it that way. You've read enough of my works by now to know that I won't do anything to come in between Kataang unless I have a plan for something that I think is going to be beautiful. Hopefully it's worth the bad cliffhanger. **

**KatMora606: ****Agradezco el voto de confianza. Logré que calificara a M más como un reflejo, pero supongo que para el epílogo podría hacer algo.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. **

* * *

Aang watched as the sun started to rise over the horizon. He hadn't been able to sleep, as much as he tried. He knew that today was an important day, but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't do it. His heart ached like nothing else before. Not even when his parents had died had he felt such pain.

He loved Katara, as ridiculous as it seemed. They had only known each other for a few days, but he was absolutely sure of it. He was in love with her. And now because of a stupid decision, she had to be forced out of the competition, ending all his hope for his reign at once.

The other girls were nice and he liked them, save for Azula that is, but Katara was always the one he had in mind for being his queen. She was beautiful and strong, yet also kind and compassionate towards others. From the little time that they were able to spend together, he had seen just how much she cared for others. She had one of the biggest hearts he had ever seen in a person, and he had hoped that she would be able to be his queen.

But Aang knew that rules were rules. If he started throwing rules out the window because they were inconvenient for him, then how could his subjects ever treat him seriously? If he was going to be a good leader, he needed to show that rules need to be followed, even when the consequences hurt _himself_ in the process. So as much as he wished that he could have revoked the rule, he knew he couldn't.

And that killed him inside.

Because he was deeply in love with Katara. He wasn't in love with her looks. Nor was he just in love with how such a good person she was. He was in love with everything about her. And now, when he took a chance and made a new rule to allow her a chance to compete, it all went down the drain as he was left with a broken heart.

He could see on her face that she regretted it, but he couldn't take it back now. He owed it to the world to stand by his rules and be the ruler that they deserved. Even if that meant that he would have to marry someone he didn't love.

And even if that meant he didn't ever love again.

Because he knew he would never love anyone like he loved her. She was perfect in every conceivable way. No one else in the world would ever even come _close_ to comparing to her. But he supposed it just wasn't meant to be. She had made her choice, even if at the moment she hadn't realized what the consequences would then bring. But she wouldn't be the only one suffering.

Letting out a long sigh, he leaned against the railing. Life seemed to be a lot duller now that she wasn't going to be a part of it.

"Aang?"

The young Avatar looked over his shoulder and was surprised to see Gyatso there, concern etched deeply onto his face. "Yeah, Gyatso?" he finally answered as he turned his attention back to the slowly rising sun.

"Are you alright?" he asked gently, already knowing the answer but not wanting to be too intruding in case Aang wasn't in a good mood.

Aang was silent for a few moments, making Gyatso all the more worried before he finally decided to answer. "Yeah, Gyatso. I'm fine," he answered emotionlessly. This just made Gyatso worry all the more.

Because he had never heard such a dull, lifeless tone in Aang's voice before. No, Aang was usually full of life and laughter and happiness. And to hear what Gyatso could only assume was the hurt and pain inside of Aang coming out through his words… it nearly broke his heart to know that his pupil was in such hurt that the joy was taken out of his words.

Though he knew it wasn't necessarily the best idea to "poke the Platypus-Bear", he knew he couldn't just stand by and watch the young man he had always thought of like a son drown himself in his misery. He wouldn't allow Aang to go through this alone.

"Aang, I'm sorry about what happened, but maybe this is for the best. If she got into two fights, maybe she had too much of a temper to be queen."

Aang silently shook his head, refusing to look at him. "No, Gyatso. She would have been the best queen the world had ever seen. She's kind and compassionate, she cares for others like no one else, and she always puts others before herself. She's beautiful inside and out." A long, defeated sigh escaped his lips. "She would have been an amazing queen."

Gyatso was silent, wondering how to approach this now. He had tried to reason with him, but it was clear that Aang wasn't going to accept that what had happened was for the best. And Gyatso realized that maybe it really _wasn't_ for the best after all. The whole ordeal had caused Aang to be broken, and if he was being honest with himself, Gyatso wasn't entirely sure if he would ever be whole again.

Because he understood what it was like to lose the one you love. Though he supposed that at least Aang actually had her love him back. His love never felt the same, and he would carry that burden every day for the rest of his life.

But still, he understood what Aang was going through. And if there was one thing he knew, it was that he was still _very _much broken, so he could only assume that Aang would be, too.

With these thoughts in mind, he decided to just let Aang be, knowing that would likely be the best course of action for his young pupil. It would take time for Aang to piece himself back together, and if his love for that girl was anything like Gyatso's love for the woman he loved, then it would take a _long_ time.

"Okay, Aang. I understand. Just know that if you ever need to talk, my door is always open," Gyatso finally said, choosing his words with great caution, knowing that even one word would be all it took for Aang to lose it.

"Thank you, Gyatso. I'll see you in a little bit." Gyatso could hear the sadness break through his emotional barrier, but he knew there was nothing he could do about it. If Aang wanted to talk about it, he would come to him.

Shaking his head sadly, he left the balcony to go make preparations for the big event of the day.

* * *

"Katara."

Katara's head snapped up in surprise. She was in the middle of a beautiful mellow, surrounded in a sea of black and white flowers. They were beautiful, but something seemed different about them. Then she remembered. These flowers were called Panda Lilies.

"Katara."

There was that voice again. She looked around, but she couldn't see anyone. She was sure that the voice wasn't just her imagination, and she knew just who it belonged to. It was the one she wanted to hear most right now.

"Aang! Aang! Where are you?" she called out, looking around everywhere, but still unable to find him. All she could see were the endless waves of Panda Lilies that were surrounding her.

She was met with complete silence. The only thing that could be heard was the rustle of the breeze blowing the little flowers gently. Her desperation was only growing worse. She needed to see him, to hear his voice. Even if it was only for one more time.

"Aang!" she called out again, desperation apparent in her voice. "Please, talk to me!"

There was no response, making her start to cry. What if she never got to see him again? What if she never got to hear his voice, see his face, anything? No. She needed to at least see him one last time. She absolutely needed to.

With all the resolve she could muster, she called out one last time. "Aang! Please, talk to me!" She started crying, feeling her heart break all over again. "Please," she whispered brokenly.

The wind shifted and spun around her, concentrating onto a single point until it was in front of her. The wind chased itself until a bright flash of light blinded her, making her cover her eyes before the light subsided and she looked to see…

She gasped. "Aang?"

He smiled at her. The warm, loving smile that she had come to adore and want to see every chance she could get. "Katara."

Not wasting a second, she ran over to him and threw her arms around his neck. "You're here. You're actually here." Happy tears started falling down her face. She had been worried that she would never be able to actually see him again. But he was there, and now she could hold him close. Feel his skin against her skin. Savor the scent that could only be his.

She wanted this moment to last forever.

But this unfortunately wasn't the case, as not long after she hugged him, he disappeared. She looked around wildly, hoping that he had just moved somewhere else so she could hold him again.

"Why did you do it?" his voice whispered to her through the passing wind, reminding her of her stupid decision.

"You could have been my queen. We could have been so happy together."

Tears started flowing down her face. "I didn't-" She was cut off by a loud roll of thunder from the skies. She looked up to see the sun quickly overtaken by a dark cloud, sending the area around her into darkness.

"We could have had everything," his voice thundered, making rain drop from the sky. The rain was not normal rain, however. She watched as the first drop hit one of the Panda Lilies and melted it into a puddle of black and white.

"No! Aang, please!" The rain came pouring faster, making the meadow melt all around her. She sunk to her knees, her tears mixing with the acidic rain as the thunder rolled. _What have I done?_ She thought brokenly as the storm encompassed the sky until all was dark.

* * *

Katara gasped as she sat up in her bed. Looking around frantically, she was relieved to see a familiar sight. She was in her room.

After the debacle that was the night before, she couldn't bring herself to even stay the night at the palace. It would just have reminded her of him, and she didn't want any of them to see her like she was. Least of all Azula, who was the cause of all of this. If that stupid, snooty, Fire Nation rat…

She took a deep breath. This wasn't her. Even if Azula had set her up, she wasn't going to let her temper over take her. Not this time. She had learned from her mistake, and she wouldn't allow it to happen again. The lesson she had learned had come at too great a price.

"Katara, dear? Is everything alright?" her mother's voice came from the other side of the room.

Katara sighed and nodded. "I'm fine, Mom. Don't worry." Even she could hear the hesitance in her voice, and she was sure that her mother could hear it, too.

"Okay, dear," Kya finally responded after a few moments of awkward silence. "Let us know if you need anything." Katara could hear her footsteps as she finally left her alone.

Laying back down, small trickles of tears started falling down her face as she buried it in her pillows. She just wanted to forget everything that had happened. Oh, why had she agreed to go to the competition? If she hadn't, then maybe her heart wouldn't be so broken like it was now.

Another knock on her door sounded. "Katara? It's Gran-Gran." Sighing a little, she knew that her Gran-Gran wasn't going to leave her alone, and decided it would just be best to let her in.

"Come in," she called wearily, hastily wiping the tears off of her eyes. Even if she knew that they knew she was crying, she was going to do everything she could to look strong, even if she felt so weak without him.

Kanna opened the door gently and came in, still in her parka that she had been in since the day that she arrived at Republic City. That day seemed so far away now…

"Oh, my dear. I'm so sorry," she said sadly as she came in and wrapped Katara in a hug. Katara couldn't help but cry more as she hugged her back, feeling a new wave of pain roll off her. "I know this can't be easy."

Katara didn't respond, just kept crying as quietly as she could into her shoulder. She didn't trust herself to speak at the moment. That dream had messed her up quite a bit.

"It's going to be okay, darling. Everything will be alright," Kanna murmured in her ear. "You'll see."

"No it's not," Katara gasped through her sobs. "It's not, Gran-Gran. I love him so much." Kanna just gently rubbed her back, letting her get all the tears out, knowing there wasn't really much else she could do for her. This wasn't what she had been hoping for her granddaughter. She had thought that they would have gotten through it, but now it wasn't the case.

But she realized that it might not be over for them just yet.

Pulling back from her, she looked her granddaughter in the eyes. "Katara, you love him, don't you?" Katara sniffled and nodded. "Well don't just give up. You're a fighter. You always have been, ever since you were a child." She gingerly wiped the tears away with her fingers. "If you love him, go fight for him."

Katara looked down at her knees and realized she was right. She couldn't just let Aang go. Not without a fight. She had never been a quitter before, and she sure wasn't going to start right now. "You're right," she said as she stood up. "I love him, and I'm going to make sure he knows it." After all, what did she have to lose?

Giving her grandmother one last quick hug, she wiped the tears from her face, fixed her hair as quick as she could and ran out the door, leaving a bewildered looking Sokka who was walking through the hallway at the time.

Kanna smiled a knowing smile. "I'm proud of you, Katara," she murmured to herself as she went to help her family.

* * *

Aang let out a long sigh as he watched the crowd of people filter through the gates of the palace, making their way towards the large courtyard that stood before the balcony where Aang would announce who his queen would be. With Katara gone, he had no choice but to choose someone else. And if he was being truthful, the decision had come easily with her and Yue gone. Azula was never truly in the running, even if he felt guilty about it. Ty Lee was nice and pretty, but he just couldn't see her as being queen, so he had decided to leave her out. Katara was obviously his first choice, but Yue and Jin were tied for second, so with Yue gone, that left Jin as the winner.

He hadn't told her about it yet, as he didn't want her to brag about it to the other remaining contestants before the kingdom knew. But even if she wasn't Katara, she was kind and compassionate, and he supposed she would be a good queen. But he knew that she would never compare to Katara.

To the girl who had stolen his heart with something as simple as a smile.

He supposed he should have known it would come to this. He had never really wanted to rule the world, but because of his duty, he decided to embrace it. But it was a bit ironic that it was his duty that was holding him back from being with the girl that he loved.

And as much as he wished he could just forsake his birthright, he knew he couldn't. Because he knew he needed to do what was best for the world. Not for himself, but for his people, and he knew that if he didn't step up to take his duty head on, the world might suffer because of it. And he wouldn't allow that to happen.

Even if it killed him inside to be without her.

"Aang?"

Aang once again glanced over his shoulder, being reminded of the morning a few hours ago where Gyatso had tried to console him. He appreciated that Gyatso cared about him, but there wasn't much his oldest friend and for all purposes a second father could do. He was about to announce his upcoming marriage to a girl he didn't love, knowing full well he was madly in love with someone else.

"Yeah?" he finally decided to respond, but even he could hear the sadness in his voice. Bitterness edged it, taking himself by surprise. He had never heard himself so unhappy before.

Gyatso reluctantly put a hand on his shoulder, obviously hesitant to do something that might upset Aang more. "It's almost time. Are you ready?"

Looking away from his mentor, he chose to face the quickly gathering crowd of people that would soon learn of his engagement and took a deep breath. "Yeah. I guess I am."

Smiling sympathetically, Gyatso awkwardly patted him on the back. "Okay then, Aang. You'll be making your announcement in five minutes." He turned around and started walking off the balcony when he stopped himself, looking over his shoulder. "Just so you know, I am very proud of you, Aang. You have turned out to be an amazing young man. I'm proud that you are putting the world before yourself, and I know that you'll go down in history as one of the best Avatars the world has ever seen."

Aang smiled a little at this and simply nodded his thanks before resuming looking at his people who were gathered at the palace grounds below him. Even if he wasn't the happiest about the situation he found himself in, he was happy to know that he still had people who cared about him.

As Gyatso walked out, the three remaining contestants walked out in their finest clothing. "Good afternoon, ladies. You all look lovely today," he smiled and bowed to them. They all smiled and bowed back to him. "If you could just stand over there," he gestured to an open spot to the right of Aang, "then we'll begin in a minute or two." They nodded again and all lined up at where they had been told to stand.

Azula was confident. She was absolutely sure that Aang would pick her. Why wouldn't he? She knew she was the strongest of the four, and would be the best leader. To be a good queen, one would need to be able to show leadership and strength, things that she found her so-called "competitors" did not have. And it was because of that reason that she truly believed that she would win.

Ty Lee was excited. She had managed to get through this whole thing with only getting in one fight. If there was one thing she thought would happen, it was that she might have gotten kicked out for fighting with Azula. But somehow she had managed to rein herself in just enough to stay in the running, and she felt like she could win this thing. She and Aang got along pretty well, and they both had a strong optimism for life. And even if she lost, at least she had a good time competing. She had to admit, she did like him, but she would understand and be happy anyway if he picked someone else.

Jin wasn't entirely sure if she was going to win or not. Aang didn't seem to like Azula very much, but he and Ty Lee seemed to have gotten along well. Though she supposed that even if she didn't win, she was just happy that she got to know Aang. He was a really nice, funny, and charming guy. If nothing else, now she knew what to set her standards for in a man. But still, she would certainly be happy if he decided to pick her.

The large crowd of people had finally finished gathering around the palace grounds and were awaiting word from their soon to be king, wondering what he had to say. There weren't many official announcements made by an Avatar, but each one was vastly different than the other, so they had no idea what it would be.

Aang pondered how he would go about doing this. Today he was going to be crowned, but first he needed to introduce his second in command. Looking behind him, he was more than a little relieved to see his friend in his best robes standing to his left. Bumi gave him a knowing smile and cackled a little, his eye twitching ever so slightly.

The young Avatar rolled his eyes. He was laughing because of the situation to his right. Though he supposed he would likely do the same thing had the positions been reversed, so he decided to just let it go.

Gyatso came back out and made his way to the edge of the balcony, clearing his throat so that all would be able to hear him. "Silence, please! Let us all be quiet, please!" After a few minutes of the guards that were placed by the crowd urging people to be quiet, they finally ceased all talking, leaving the entire palace at a quiet hush. "Thank you," he told them with a smile.

"As you all know," he continued. "Today, Avatar Aang will officially be crowned king of our kingdom." The crowd cheered loudly at this, making Aang smile. At least his people seemed to like him. He silently made a promise to himself to be the best ruler that he could be for them. "But before that, he has a couple announcements to make."

Stepping back, he gestured for Aang to step forward. With one last deep breath, Aang took his place on the balcony and began what was going to seal the rest of his life.

* * *

Katara was already out of breath. It was rather funny, actually, this situation. It was just like the first day that she had run to get to the competition. And here she was, running again to see if she might have a chance to be with the man she loved.

Even if he rejected her, she had to try. She would never forgive herself if she didn't put herself out there. Katara wasn't one to hold in her emotions. She wore her heart on her sleeve and made it clear whether she was angry or sad or happy or mad. Everyone who knew her knew that she didn't hold anything back. Well… almost anything.

There were a few times where she _did_ hold back. For instance, when she was young and her mother was very sick, Katara had been worried. Her mother was her favorite person in the world, and she was scared to death at the thought of losing her. But, for the sake of keeping herself together, she didn't allow anyone to know how scared and worried she was of losing her mother. She buried it so deep that only she had known about it. And thank the spirits that her mother had survived.

But this couldn't be one of those times.

Aang needed to know how much she loved him. He needed to know that she was sorry for jumping in on the fight, and that she would do whatever it took to be his queen. She just needed to put herself out there and hope for the best.

Because her Gran-Gran was right. She was a fighter. She fought for what she wanted and never gave up. Not just what she wanted, but what she needed.

And she needed Aang like nothing else before.

Finally reaching the gates, she was both annoyed and disgruntled that the gates had been closed, keeping her from getting inside. Walking up to the two guards who were guarding it, she prepared to ask them politely if she could just squeeze in when they spoke up.

"Halt! No more people may come in. The Avatar is making his announcements!" the one on the left barked.

Katara put on a pleading look. "Please, sir, I just need to-"

The man on the right spoke up. "We're sorry, miss, but no one else may enter. Even if we were allowed to, there's simply no more room for anyone else."

The young waterbender was _not _happy about this. She had come this far, already. She certainly couldn't give up now. No, she wouldn't. She _had_ to find another way.

Looking around, she was relieved to see a large pond to her right. With a smile on her face, she bent some of the water from it and used it as a moving ramp to get over the gates, making the guards gasp in surprise. They certainly hadn't been expecting her to do that.

The frozen water brought her closer and closer to the balcony where she knew Aang would be. But what would she say? It was at this moment that she realized she would be doing this in front of a lot of people, but she shook her head at herself. It didn't matter. She would do this in front of the whole world if it meant that she could have Aang.

Within a few moments, she was just a few feet away from the balcony as Aang had finished announcing who his second in command would be. And now for the part he was dreading: announcing his future queen.

Somehow, he hadn't seen her as he looked down at his people. It seemed a bit ironic to him to look down at them, actually. Truthfully, he looked _up_ to them. Everyone there were once enemies, and because of his ancestor, that was no longer the case. But he looked up to them because, although they all had their differences, they still chose to be friends and work together to have a good life. And he loved knowing that his people could work together.

"And now, for my final announcement, I am in need of a queen. We held a competition to see who would be the best fit, and I have decided that the winner is-"

"Wait!"

Aang's eyes snapped up in surprise as he looked at none other than the girl who had stolen his heart skating to him on a moving rink of ice. The crowd gasped in surprise and watched as she made it the rest of the distance and landed on the balcony, only a few feet from the man she loved.

"K-Katara?" he stammered in utter surprise. He was certainly not expecting this to happen, but he couldn't deny that his heart was pounding at seeing her again. She looked tired and out of breath, but she was still so _beautiful_.

"Aang," she panted a little, still out of breath from running from her home to the palace. After allowing herself a moment to catch her breath, she finally looked up into his eyes. "Aang. I… I know I messed up when I got in that fight last night, but… I love you, Aang." The crowd gasped below them, and there was a resounding echo of "Aww"s from a group of ladies below them. Katara looked at him right in the eyes, unable to read any emotion on his face other than surprise. "I love you so much, Aang. And I know that I don't deserve you but… I need you, Aang. I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

There was utter silence as everyone waited to hear what he had to say to that. He was frozen in utter shock at this. He knew that she loved him, but he didn't think she loved him _this_ much.

Katara waited anxiously for him to say something. To say _anything_. After a few moments of his silence, she took it to mean what she feared. He wasn't going to marry her. A few tears rolled down her eyes, but she hastily wiped them off and looked away. "It's okay. I… I understand. I just had to put myself out there. I-" she was cut off as he stepped up and grabbed her face with his hands, bringing her insistently into a breathtaking kiss. Her eyes widened in surprise at this, but after a few moments of shock sunk closed in bliss as she kissed him back with everything she had.

The crowd below them roared their approval, making the once quiet palace come alive with their cheers. Jin smiled. She could see that they really loved each other, so she was happy for them. Even if she had liked Aang herself.

Ty Lee smiled as well. She had hoped to win as well, but she was happy that she had made it this far, and after seeing how unhappy Katara had been at thinking that Aang didn't want her, decided to just be happy for the two.

Azula, however, was furious. With a snarl of contempt at Katara, who was far too busy to notice, stormed off of the balcony in an obvious rage, knocking over a vase along the way. Not that either of them noticed, they were both too lost in each other to notice anything else around them.

After a few more moments, they reluctantly pulled apart and smiled at each other. "I love you too, Katara," he whispered to her. She smiled widely and kissed him again as the crowd once again made its approval known, reminding them that they were in public as they split apart, blushing heavily as they did so.

Gyatso couldn't help the wide smile on his face. His pupil had gotten the girl he loved, after all. It seemed that Aang would be just fine, after all.

Despite his obvious blushing, Aang turned back to Katara and smiled warmly at her, the smile that she had been desperately wanting. He knew that by going against his own rule it was wrong, but he didn't care anymore. There was no way he was going to let her go again. He loved her too much.

"So… is there any chance you're interested in being my queen?" he asked jokingly, making her blink in surprise and then laugh with him before she once again kissed him.

"Of course I am, Aang," she whispered against his lips. "I have been ever since you asked me." He smiled against her lips and kissed her again before taking her hand in his and addressing the crowd.

"May I introduce to you all my future queen, Katara of the Southern Water Tribe!" he yelled to them with a wide smile on his face. The crowd roared once more, making them both smile as they looked at each other.

Gyatso, however, knew this was the perfect time to finish the announcements by officially making Aang the ruler of his kingdom. Moving up to him with a crown in his hands, he gestured for Aang to kneel before him. Aang did so and bowed his head while Katara respectfully moved out of the way.

"Do you, Avatar Aang, swear to respect your people's wishes and to do everything in your power to make the world at peace for the rest of your life?"

"I do," Aang replied, full of confidence now that he had his love at his side.

Gyatso nodded and placed the crown on his head. "Then I now name you, Avatar Aang, as the official ruler of the kingdom. May your reign be long and prosperous."

Aang stood up and faced the crowd who had erupted into more cheers. "All hail Avatar Aang!" they chanted, making him smile as he looked upon his people. Katara walked back to his side and took his hand, feeling content knowing that _he _had chosen _her_. And she would be grateful for that for the rest of her life.


	8. Epilogue

Epilogue

**Warning: There will be a lemon in this chapter, so… be warned, I guess.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. **

* * *

A few months after the coronation, it was their wedding day. Katara was excited and nervous at the same time. It wasn't every day that one got married, after all, but she was far more excited and happy than nervous. She was just happy that she was marrying the man she loved more than life itself.

She had unfortunately not been able to see him. He had many things he needed to attend to before the wedding began, and mostly because of a stupid tradition in the city that wouldn't allow them to see each other before the wedding. She just wanted to hear his voice to make sure that this was all real. If she was being honest with herself, she had been expecting him to reject her when she had talked to him on the balcony, expressing her love for him for many people to see.

But she knew that it was real when none other than her annoying brother walked into the room with Suki on his arm. He had finally asked her out and they seemed to be doing just fine. In fact, she had asked Suki to be her maid of honor.

Or rather, _one_ of her maids of honor.

After everything had settled down with her interruption of his announcements, she had made sure to seek out Yue and apologize, knowing that she had taken it too far and let herself get in the way of their friendship. Yue understood, and although she wasn't happy about not winning Aang, understood and they became friends again, much to Katara's relief.

She and Yue might have had some fights, but the young Northern Princess was too much of a good friend for her to not try to mend the bridges between them. And she was thankful that they had managed to do just that.

"Hey Katara," Sokka smiled as he walked in and sat down on the chair in front of her. He had made it clear that he didn't like the thought of her marrying anyone, but he knew that Aang would be good for her, and had not put up much of a fight against it. Besides, this way he could somewhat be considered royalty again.

Hakoda and Kya, though being sad about their daughter growing up so fast, were happy for her. They understood what it was like to be in love with someone, and they were just happy for her that the happy couple had ended up together in the end.

And Katara was rather happy that she didn't have to be separated from her family, either. Aang had invited them to live in the Palace for as long as they liked, making Katara very happy. One of the worries she had when she decided to join the competition was if she would get to see her family much had she won, but Aang had taken that worry away. She would be able to see her family every day. Especially when she and Aang had children, she was sure that her family would want to be there as much as possible.

She blushed at the thought. Although she had known that after the wedding they would consummate their marriage, she was still nervous about it. Her parents had told her about it, but apart from her brother bragging about doing it with Suki, she had no clue what exactly was going to happen. But she supposed it didn't really matter. All that mattered was that she was starting a life with Aang.

Toph, who had been forced to hang out with her while she got ready for her big day, sighed in relief. "Finally!" she exclaimed happily.

Katara glared at her, but Toph's unseeing eyes just kept looking forward, completely unaware of her friend's dirty look directed towards her. Seeing that Toph couldn't see it, she decided to voice her irritation.

"Gee, thanks Toph," she commented dryly before looking in the mirror again. It amazed her that the royal tailors had managed to get the dress exactly right.

Sokka smiled as he watched her. "You look beautiful, Katara," he told her, catching her completely by surprise. She hadn't expected him to say anything like this. Where was the brother who couldn't go five minutes without talking about his girlfriend or meat?

"Yeah, you really do, Katara," Suki agreed with a smile as she walked over and hugged her. "Are you excited?" Katara nodded quickly with a wide smile on her face. Suki chuckled and gave her a pat on the back. "Good. Have you seen Avatar Aang at all today?"

Katara laughed a little. "Suki, you know you can just call him 'Aang'. He doesn't like being different from others."

The young warrior simply shrugged in response. "Well, you'll have to excuse me. I don't know him as well as you do." She leaned in to whisper jokingly in her ear. "And sometimes I'm jealous of you for that."

"Hey!" Sokka complained while eating a piece of seal jerky he had produced from his pocket. The girls just laughed and shook their heads at him, knowing that he would eventually figure out that Suki was kidding. Well, half-kidding, anyway.

Katara smiled and looked back in the mirror. The royal hairdressers had done her hair beautifully, making it fall down her shoulders in long, chocolate curls. Her dress of course was light blue to match her eyes at Aang's insistence, claiming that it made her already beautiful eyes even more dazzling. She knew he was a bit cheesy sometimes, but hey, what could she say? She liked cheesy.

Actually, she loved it.

Then Hakoda and Kya walked in, gasping at the sight of their beautiful daughter with her friends. Tears started falling down their face, but they hastily wiped it away and walked up to her to give their only daughter a hug.

"You look beautiful, Katara," Hakoda murmured to her, making her smile as she hugged them back.

"Thanks dad," she said as she pulled back to look at them both, happy to know that they supported her in this decision. It wouldn't have mattered had they decided to oppose it, anyway. She loved Aang, and as much as she loved her family, she knew even if they hadn't been happy about it, they would be happy for her anyway.

Finally, Gyatso walked to the entrance and peeked in, smiling as he saw Katara. "You look lovely, my dear. Aang is a very lucky man." She smiled and nodded her thanks before he got back to business as he remembered why he had come. "It is almost time. Are you ready?" Taking a deep breath, she let it out and nodded, standing up as he motioned for her to follow, ready to start the rest of her life with the man she loved.

* * *

Half an hour later, Hakoda and Katara were arm in arm outside of the room where he would walk her to her soon to be husband. "It's not too late to back out, you know," he murmured to her.

She shook her head with a smile. "I'm not backing out, dad."

He chuckled a little and smiled. "I figured, but I thought I'd try." His eyes softened. "I just can't believe my little girl has grown up so quickly. It seems like just yesterday that I was reading stories to you on my lap in the South Pole."

Katara smiled sadly at the memory and was about to respond when the music started playing. "Well, I guess that's our cue. Are you ready for this?"

"I am," she confirmed, practically dragging him towards the door. He laughed at her enthusiasm and waited as two guards opened the doors for them as he walked her down the aisle. Aang smiled widely at her, that same smile she loved to see.

She couldn't help but smile back as they continued their march. Katara had never imagined she would get married to the Avatar, but more than that, she had never expected to meet and fall in love with someone as amazing as Aang. She was happy that he had stumbled into her that day.

As they finally reached the end of the aisle, Hakoda kissed her head and gave her to Aang, though not without whispering quickly, "Take good care of her."

Aang simply smiled in return. "Of course I will, sir. I'll treat her like the amazing queen she is." Hakoda smiled and nodded to him before moving to take his seat next to his wife.

Zuko, Sokka, and Bumi stood to Aang's left as his three best men. As hard as he tried, and though he knew he was closest with Bumi, he couldn't pick between them, and since he was the king, he supposed he didn't _have _to. And thus had decided that all three would be his collective best men.

Zuko snickered a little. "You do realize that the Avatar is about to be your brother in law, right?"

Sokka laughed a little and nodded. "Yeah, I do. And you know what? I'm okay with it." Zuko looked at him in surprise, but Sokka just shrugged, nodding towards the couple. "I've never seen Katara that happy before, and my job as her big brother is to make her happy, so if he makes her happy, that's all I care about."

The young prince considered this for a moment and understood what he meant. Azula had been unhappy about losing the competition, and he decided that despite their many fights, he would do his best to cheer her up from it. After all, it was just what big brothers did for their sisters.

As the minister began the ceremony and addressed the crowd, Katara couldn't help but be in disbelief that she was really there. Even if she had been determined to tell Aang how much he meant to her, she hadn't actually expected him to do anything about it. She had expected him to reject her and for her to be depressed for the rest of her life. Of course she knew someone else could make her happy, but she loved Aang so much that the thought of being without him was almost unbearable.

And fortunately for her, she would never have to.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when the minister came to the vows. "Do you, Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, take Avatar Aang, to have and to hold, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, until death do you part?"

Her smile widened at hearing this. "I do," she whispered, her voice wrought with emotion. The minister smiled and turned to Aang and repeated it to him.

"I do," Aang smiled just as widely, placing the new betrothal necklace he had made for her around her neck, bringing tears to both of their eyes as they looked at each other with their hearts overwhelming them from how much they loved each other.

The minister smiled. "Then by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride." Aang didn't hesitate as he took Katara into a breathtaking kiss. The crowd cheered all around them as the happy couple finally cemented their love with the first of many kisses as man and wife.

Several hours later, after the celebration party and after opening many presents, the newlyweds decided it was time for them to sneak out of there and go up to their room. Katara smiled at the thought. She didn't have a room to herself anymore. Now she would share a room with the man she loved for the rest of her life.

And though she was nervous about the next part of their night, she was also excited, too. Not only did it mean that they were going to begin their process to have a family, but from what she had heard from some of her friends, sex sounded like it would be enjoyable. Though she had been warned that the first time would hurt, she was assured that after that it would be good from there on.

As they finally arrived at their bedroom, Aang opened the door for her and let her walk in. When they were both inside, Aang closed the door behind him and turned around only to be pushed back by Katara with her lips on his. He smiled into the kiss and kissed her back as she started running her hands over his body, making him moan a little as she found what she had been looking for.

"Katara, we don't have to do this right now," he said as he broke the kiss to look her in the eyes. "There's no rush."

"I know, but… I want to do it," she admitted with a faint blush on her cheeks.

Aang laughed a little and pulled her into another kiss. "Whatever you want, my wife."

Katara smiled widely at that. She was his wife, and he was her husband. The thought absolutely made her heart content, knowing that she had married the man she was deeply in love with.

Kissing him again, she started running her hands over him again, this time going straight for his package, once again making him moan against her lips as she rubbed it softly, making it harden until it was firm in her hand. And to her slight embarrassment, she felt herself get a little wet.

Without another word, they hastily ripped each other's clothes off and found themselves in a heated kiss as Katara ran her hands through his surprisingly silky hair. It was short, so she had expected it to be a little spiky, but it was smooth and pleasant on her fingers.

Before long, the fire in her loins became too much for her and she couldn't take it anymore. Breaking the kiss, she laid down on the bed and spread her legs for him. "I need you, Aang." Those words made Aang become more aroused, even though he hadn't thought it was possible before then.

Moving quickly over to her, he leaned down and captured her lips before aiming his manhood just above her womanhood. Katara wasn't sure how much he knew about sex, and more importantly, virgins, but she just hoped he didn't put it in too fast.

Fortunately for her, Aang had been well-tutored on sex by his Zuko, so he knew to go in gently as he looked at her for confirmation that this was really okay. Katara laughed a little, finding it endearing that even after being married he still wanted to make sure she was okay with it. Giving him a quick kiss, she nodded that she was ready.

Still a bit reluctant, he finally slid himself in her, making her gasp as he filled it up and accidentally went right through her barrier, making her gasp again in pain as a few tears went down her cheeks. "Oh no, I'm so sorry! I-"

She cut him off with a kiss. "It's okay, Aang. Just give me a second." He nodded and watched in pain knowing that she was in pain, but before long, she kissed him to signal that she was ready.

Seeing her in pain had lessened his arousal, but upon seeing her naked body underneath him refreshed it. He started slowly, knowing that she would need time to get used to it. Katara moaned with every slow thrust, both of their heads swimming with pleasure as they made love. Before long, it wasn't fast enough for her. "Faster, Aang," she practically pleaded.

Smiling, he granted her request and thrust deeper into her with his arousal starting to take over for him. His new wife was absolutely beautiful from head to toe, and he was going to show her just how much he believed that through their love making.

His thrusts quickly picked up in speed as she clung onto him for dear life, her head swimming from the pleasure he was bringing her. No wonder her friends had said that it was a bit addicting. This feeling was amazing.

Before long, however, both of them felt their ends coming. "Aang," she panted, still getting pounded by the love of her life. "I'm so close."

"Me too," he moaned, only increasing his speed as he thrusted into her. Katara couldn't help but moan and scream a little at each thrust. It just felt so good.

A few moments later, Katara couldn't take it anymore and burst like a dam. "Aang!"

Aang himself wasn't far behind. Knowing he was almost there, he put everything he had into it as he felt his end coming quickly. With one last cry of her name, he finished inside her, making her gasp as his warm seed shot up into her.

Aang collapsed onto one side of the bed while Katara struggled to regain her breath. Both had been exhausted from their love making.

After a few moments, their exhaustion quickly caught up with them and they felt themselves falling asleep. "That was amazing," Katara murmured as she laid her head on her chest.

"Yeah," Aang laughed a little. "It was. Have I ever told you how beautiful and amazing you are?"

Katara smiled weakly at this and nodded. "Yeah, but I wouldn't mind hearing it again."

He smiled and kissed her head. "Katara, you're the most amazing and beautiful girl in the world, inside and out. And I'm the luckiest man alive that I get to call you mine." A tear escaped Katara's eye at this and she reached up to plant a firm kiss on his lips.

"And you're the most amazing man in the world, Aang," she replied with her lips inches from his. "I'm lucky that I even got to kiss you, let alone marry you." He smiled and kissed her again before their exhaustion took over them once again as she snuggled into him. "I love you, Aang."

"I love you, too," he whispered before giving her one last kiss on the head and wrapped his arms around her, making them both fall asleep happily as they enjoyed each others' warmth.

* * *

A few years later, all was well with the world. Together, Aang and Katara worked to make the world the best it had ever been, and had made much progress. Aang's assumption of Katara being the best queen had proven to be true, as she was tireless and dedicated when it came to working for the benefit of others, and he loved her all the more for it.

"Mommy! Can please stop brushing my hair?"

Katara looked down at her daughter to see that she had been so lost in her thoughts that she had accidentally ripped some of her daughter's hair out while brushing it. "Oh, I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" she asked worriedly as she gently rubbed her hand over her daughter's head, trying to soothe any pain that she might have caused.

Korra looked up and smiled. "I'm fine, mommy. It was just starting to hurt a little."

The young Queen smiled and let out a sigh of relief. "Good. I'm sorry that I did that. I guess I was a little distracted."

"What were you distracted about?" Korra asked curiously as she turned around to face her.

Katara laughed a little. There was only one thing that distracted her anymore, and he was currently in a meeting with his generals. "I was just thinking of when your daddy and I met."

"Ooh! How did you meet?" her young daughter asked excitedly.

"Maybe another time, sweetheart. Right now, we have to get ready. Some old friends are coming to visit," she replied while helping her up on her feet and bringing her to a mirror. "Maybe I'll tell you before bedtime."

"Okay!"

Smiling again, she checked her daughter over and was satisfied. With her work now done, she took Korra's hand. "Come now, Korra. We need to get to daddy's meeting. That's where we'll see your aunt and uncle!"

"Yay!" Korra cheered excitedly.

Katara laughed again at her daughter and led them away to the council meeting chamber where she knew her husband would be, probably bored out of his mind as he usually was during those moments. Though she knew that he understood why they were important, she also knew that he was a restless spirit and would much rather be spending time with his family.

As they finally reached the room, the doors opened to reveal Aang's generals leaving. They gave them a nod of respect along the way and left the doors open, knowing that the Queen and her daughter would be going in.

"Come on, sweetheart," Katara murmured to her daughter as she saw that Aang was already in a discussion with Sokka and Suki.

When Aang saw her out of the corner of his eye, he smiled widely, making Katara melt all over again. She loved his smile, and it never failed to amaze her that that particular smile was only for her.

"Hey sis," Sokka greeted her when he finally saw her walk into the room. He gasped when he saw Korra and smiled. "Hi, Korra."

"Uncle Sokka! Aunt Suki!" Korra smiled and tackled them in a hug. They chuckled and hugged her back.

"It's good to see you too, hun," Suki smiled before letting her go. "Wow, look at you! You're getting so big!"

Korra smiled widely at this. "Thanks! One day I'm going to be as big and strong as daddy!"

"You don't want to do that. Twinkle Toes is pretty scrawny," Toph joked as she came into the room.

Aang rolled his eyes. "Gee, thanks Toph."

Toph snickered and punched him in the arm. "You know I'm kidding. Don't be such a big baby." Aang just laughed good naturedly and watched as Zuko and Mai came in. "Oh, what a surprise! Mr. and Mrs. Pouty are late!" she smirked.

Zuko rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Says the girl who was late to her own wedding. Speaking of which, where's Teo?" he asked as he looked around.

"He's busy with his business that his father and he made," she shrugged. "He said to say hi and that he's sorry he couldn't make it."

Mai snickered. "Yup, you guys are a good match. You both are too busy all of the time." Toph snorted and rolled her blind eyes, but she couldn't keep the small smile off her face.

"So, has anyone heard about Jin?" Suki asked excitedly. Katara hadn't known it, but over Suki's travels, she had befriended Jin and was apparently very close to her. Everyone shook their heads. "She got married!"

Aang smiled at this, happy to hear that she finally found someone to make her not be so lonely. "That's great! Who did she marry?" he asked curiously.

"A man named Haru. He was a peasant before they got married, and now he's the king of their portion of the Earth Kingdom. But she makes it clear that she's the one in charge," Suki winked, making them all laugh.

"Well, I'm very glad to hear that," Katara said as she remembered the talk she had with her before she and Yue fought. She didn't have to worry about Yue being alone, either. After she had returned to the North Pole, she had been surprised to discover that Hahn, a young man who had once been a jerk, had ended up almost dying, which made him rethink his life and remade himself into a good man. And now they were happily married and ruled over the Northern Water Tribe together.

Azula and Ty Lee, despite their obvious feud that they had during the competition, managed to stop the hostility towards each other and had become good friends. With Zuko's help, of course. And from what Katara had heard, they had both landed nice men from the fire nation. Though they were just rumors, Katara hoped they were true. Even if Azula almost caused her to lose the love of her life.

As they all stood there and talked, Katara couldn't help but feel extremely content with her life. She had an amazing family, an amazing husband, and an amazing daughter. And she would be grateful for all she had for the rest of her life.

She felt Aang's warm lips press to her head as he took her hand in his. She smiled and kissed his cheek before leaning into his ear. "I love you."

"I love you, too," he whispered back and squeezed her hand, making Katara smile. Yes, though the road had been long and hard, it was worth it. Because now she had him. And she would spend every moment she could with the man she loved. And though she knew being a queen wasn't easy, it was worth it to be with him. Even if they had some royal complications along the way.

* * *

**Hey guys! I just wanted to say thanks for following the story and letting me know what you think. Again, I'm sorry about the end of chapter six, but hopefully the end of last chapter and this epilogue made up for it. Anyway, thank you guys for your support and I will see you all later!**


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